Only a little over a month ago, Robert Kraft and his New England Patriots were standing on a podium accepting their fourth Super Bowl trophy. Meanwhile, back in Foxboro, Kraft's MLS team, the New England Revolution, struggles to gain any attention from its fans and its owner.
When Kraft took over the Patriots, they were a struggling NFL franchise with little to no hope of ever going to the Super Bowl, but that obviously changed. He hired Bill Belichick as head coach, they drafted Tom Brady, taking the team from nobodies to dynasty.
But, if you listen to whispers around the MLS, the Krafts are the worst owners in the league. That may be shocking to some who consider them the best owners in the NFL.
Nevertheless, rumors have been rumbling for awhile that one of the founding fathers of the MLS is a lousy owner. Why? Some say it's because the Krafts aren't true soccer fans.
While they have wined and dined their celebrity guests when they come to Patriots games, according to some, you barely see them at Revolution games, which of course doesn't sit well with a lot of current and former players.
One ex-player, who wanted to remain anonymous, said this to Boston Magazine last year:
“The reputation of the Revolution is that they’re cheap.” He mentions a story of the team, a few years ago, having to make two connections on their flight to a game. It’s a little thing, but it sends a signal. “It’s stuff like that that gives you the rep among the players and the fans,” the ex-player says. “They don’t hold their breath that the Revs will ever get a legit DP. Not when you know you’re second on the totem pole within your own organization.”
Basically, the organization is becoming the old LA Clippers without the racist owner. One of the criticisms of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling was that he was cheap and basically a hands-off owner until just a few years ago; that seems to be the case with Kraft.
The money they do have, they spend mostly on the Patriots. While the Pats spent millions signing players like Darrelle Revis last year, the floundering Revolution can't get current MLS players to even take a sniff at them because of their reputation.
What's the solution? Well, some say sell the team. We won't hold our breaths for that to happen; however, it does seem recently that the Krafts are taking more interest in the team, attending more games and even trying to build a new soccer stadium in downtown Boston.
So, perhaps all hope is not lost for soccer fans in New England.
