Kraft Group sues Foxboro over Gillette Stadium entertainment license fee
The Kraft Group filed a lawsuit Monday night in Norfolk Superior Court, accusing the town of Foxboro of abusing its licensing authority for Gillette Stadium events "unlawfully to extract funds."
The lawsuit was filed by Kraft Sports and Entertainment LLC, New England Patriots LLC, Kraft Soccer LLC, and NPS LLC, the principal operators of Gillette Stadium.
The group contends that Foxboro is allowed to charge a maximum fee of $100 each year to renew the entertainment license for Gillette Stadium.
In April 2026, the lawsuit claims that Foxboro officials sent an invoice for more than $950,000 in order to renew. They allege that the town "used what should have been a routine entertainment license renewal as a pretext to charge Plaintiffs approximately $1 million annually in new administrative fees."
The Kraft Group says the new charge is in addition to about $4 million it pays to Foxboro each year for special detail services for local firefighters and police officers.
"An additional substantial percentage of Foxborough's revenue stems from business that would not exist in Foxborough if Gillette Stadium were not also located there," the lawsuit reads.
According to the lawsuit, the town says that the new annual charge is not a "fee for" but is instead a "condition of" the entertainment license for Gillette Stadium.
The town said in a statement that the provision for 2026 is to reimburse them for "vital public safety and other municipal services necessary to support events held at Gillette Stadium."
"The Town of Foxborough is disappointed that Kraft Sports + Entertainment has chosen to appeal the annual Entertainment License issued by the Select Board. The Town, through its licensing authority, has an obligation to ensure that the costs associated with private events are borne by the entities that conduct and benefit from those events, rather than by Foxborough taxpayers," the town said.
Town officials also said that security needs for Gillette Stadium events "are growing increasingly complex."
"Throughout discussions with Kraft Sports + Entertainment's representatives, the Town's position has remained consistent: Foxborough residents should not be asked to subsidize the municipal costs associated with privately operated events," the town said in its statement.
Kraft Sports Group and Foxboro leaders were mired in a dispute leading up to the World Cup over who would pay for security costs. At one point before an agreement was reached, the town threatened to cancel the seven matches if it did not get $7.8 million for security.
