No one can deny that since Robert Kraft and his family took over ownership prior to the 1994 season, the New England Patriots have enjoyed incredible success both on and off the field.
In a recent article several alumni players told Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant that Robert Kraft has been the franchise’s stabilizing influence. Kraft has turned the Patriots from a laughing stock to a model franchise that transcends the sport. Teams in other sports, as well as football, are modeling themselves after the Patriots both on and off the field, doing things “the Patriot way”.
In the five years before the Kraft’s bought the team the Patriots were 19-61 and had no playoff appearances. Since then the team is 160-85, they’ve played in four Super Bowls winning three championships. They’ve won 8 AFC East titles and have been to the playoffs 10 times in fourteen seasons. They also have more Super Bowl titles, plyed in more playoff games and have more playoff victories than any other NFL franchise in that time span.
Since Kraft purchased the team in 1994 only MLB’s New York Yankees and the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs have won more championships than the three won by the Patriots.
But maybe the best thing about the Kraft ownership is the commitment the family gave to keep the team here in New England. And in return the fans have paid them back with 148 consecutive sellouts dating back to opening day 1994. The season ticket base went from 17,635 in 1991, which barely helped the team survive to 61,759 with 50,000 more fanatics on a waiting list. Unlike fans in other NFL cities New England fans have not been faced with a TV blackout in the last 304 games (266 under Kraft).
And with the success of this year’s team, Patriots games are the four most-watched programs of any kind in the 2007-08 television season. 34.5 million people nationwide saw the Patriots-Giants game on Dec. 29, making it the most-watched TV program of the 2007-08 television season while New England’s 24-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 4 was seen by 33.8 million people on CBS. The Dec. 9 Patriots-Steelers game was seen by 30.3 million people on CBS and the Patriots’ 48-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 14 was seen on CBS by 29.1 million people. The next largest audience for a TV show this television season was for the season premiere of CSI, which attracted 25.4 million people on CBS on Sept. 27. The 2007 World Series only averaged 17.5 million viewers per game.
With the Kraft family around you know the team is in good hands for years to come and for Patriots fans that’s great news.
