New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, often called the Pats, are a pro football team from the Greater Boston area. They play in the AFC East division of the NFL. Their home field is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, about 22 miles southwest of Boston. Robert Kraft has owned the team since buying it in 1994. As of 2025, the Patriots rank as the seventh most valuable sports team globally, and they’ve sold out every home game since Kraft took over.

The franchise started in 1959 as the Boston Patriots, one of the original eight teams of the American Football League (AFL). It joined the NFL in 1970 after the AFL–NFL merger. Before settling in Foxborough in 1971, the team played at several Boston venues, including Fenway Park from 1963 to 1968. With the move, the name changed to the New England Patriots. Home games were held at Foxboro Stadium until it was torn down in 2002, the same year Gillette Stadium opened.

For most of their early history, the Patriots were a middling team. That changed after Kraft bought the franchise. In the 2001 season, under head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the team unexpectedly surged to success, kicking off a dominant era that lasted through 2019. The Brady–Belichick partnership is widely considered one of the greatest dynasties in sports, and it produced nearly every major Super Bowl record.

The Patriots hold the most Super Bowl wins (six, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers), the most appearances (12), and the most losses (six). Other NFL records include the most wins over a 10-year span (126 from 2003 to 2012), the longest combined regular-season and playoff win streak (21 games from October 2003 to October 2004), the most consecutive winning seasons (19 from 2001 to 2019), the most straight conference championship appearances (eight from 2011 to 2018), the most consecutive division titles (11 from 2009 to 2019), the only perfect 16-game regular season (2007), the most postseason wins (40, tied with the San Francisco 49ers), and the highest postseason winning percentage (.638).

On November 16, 1959, Boston business executive Billy Sullivan was awarded the eighth and final franchise of the developing AFL. That winter, locals suggested names for the team. The winning pick, chosen by Sullivan, was “Boston Patriots,” a nod to the colonists who rebelled against British rule during the American Revolution—a theme especially relevant given Massachusetts’ key role in independence. Artist Phil Bissell of The Boston Globe then created the “Pat Patriot” logo.

The Patriots never had a permanent home stadium in the AFL. They used Boston University Field, Harvard Stadium, Fenway Park (shared with baseball’s Boston Red Sox), and Boston College’s Alumni Stadium. In 1963, the team earned its first playoff win, beating Buffalo to win the division, but then lost the AFL Championship game to the San Diego Chargers, 51–10. They wouldn’t reach another postseason for 13 years.

After the 1970 merger, the Patriots were placed in the AFC East, where they remain. The next year, they moved to a new stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, their home for the next three decades, and changed their name from the Boston Patriots to the Bay State Patriots. The NFL rejected that name, and on March 22, 1971, the team officially switched to “New England.”

Led by offensive lineman John Hannah—widely considered one of the best ever at his position—along with future Hall of Famers Mike Haynes (cornerback) and Andre Tippett (linebacker), the Patriots had sporadic success in the 1970s and 1980s. Raymond Berry became head coach in 1984 and posted a 51–41 record over the next five and a half seasons. His 1985 team went 11–5, earned a wild-card spot, and won three straight AFC playoff games on the road to reach Super Bowl XX, where they lost 46–10 to the Chicago Bears. Berry left after a poor 1989 season. His replacement, Rod Rust, lasted just one year, with the Patriots going 1–15 in 1990.

In the mid-1970s, owner Billy Sullivan briefly lost control of the Patriots despite holding a 20% voting stake, but he regained it by buying out minority partners and public shareholders. That buyout later led to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the transaction was illegal and required extra compensation to shareholders. Financial troubles worsened in the 1980s, especially after heavy losses tied to financing the Jacksons’ 1984 Victory Tour, which had been secured using Sullivan Stadium as collateral. Mounting debt eventually forced the Sullivans to put both the Patriots and the stadium up for sale.