Official website of the New England Patriots

Jonathan Kraft
PRESIDENT
Biography
Jonathan Kraft is the president of the Kraft Group, .the private holding company of the Kraft family's varied business interests. He is also the president of the six-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. As president of the Patriots, Kraft oversees the management and strategic planning of each department within the organization and works closely with his father to represent the Patriots in all league matters.
Jonathan Kraft is the president of the Kraft Group, .the private holding company of the Kraft family's varied business interests. He is also the president of the six-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. As president of the Patriots, Kraft oversees the management and strategic planning of each department within the organization and works closely with his father to represent the Patriots in all league matters.
Among his league obligations, Kraft is the chairman of the Fan Engagement and Major Events Committee and serves on multiple other NFL owner committees, including Business Ventures, Legalized Sports Betting and Media Owned and Operated.
Kraft's team and league obligations are only a small part of his day-to-day responsibilities, which are as diversified as the many different companies he oversees. The Kraft Group operates a variety of interests including the distribution of forest products, paper and packaging manufacturing, sports and entertainment, real estate development, and a portfolio of more than 100 venture and private equity investments. As president, Kraft is responsible for overseeing the operations of each division.
The Kraft Group's holdings include Rand-Whitney Container, a manufacturer of corrugated containers; International Forest Products (IFP), a global trader of paper commodities and the seventh-largest exporter in North America; Rand-Whitney Containerboard and New-Indy Containerboard, manufacturers of 100 percent high-performance recycled linerboard. Kraft oversaw the construction of the first paper mill in the country that produces product from 100 percent post-consumer fiber and wastewater. Together these companies convert, produce and distribute over five million tons of paper and pulp annually and do business in more than 120 countries.
Kraft Sports + Entertainment holdings include Gillette Stadium, the NFL's New England Patriots and Major League Soccer's New England Revolution.
In 1994, Robert Kraft paid what was then the highest price for a professional sports franchise when he bought the Patriots. At that time, the Patriots were the NFL's worst performing franchise, both on and off the field. Since then, Jonathan has been the day-to-day driving force behind the rebuilding and re-branding of the franchise, growing the fan base and bringing long-overdue stability to the once wayward organization.
In the first season of the Kraft family's ownership, the Patriots sold out every regular season home game for the first time in franchise history, propelling the team into the playoffs for the first time in eight years. In their first five seasons, the Patriots qualified for the playoffs four times and now, after 28 years of ownership, the Patriots have won more Super Bowls, conference championships, division titles and overall games than any other NFL team. Over the past 20 years, the Patriots have earned "Team of the Decade" accolades twice by setting NFL records for total wins and winning three Super Bowls in each of the past two decades and won an unprecedented 11 straight division titles from 2009-19.
While the team's on-field performance since 1994 represents one of the greatest worst-to-first transitions in sports history, Kraft has successfully implemented numerous initiatives that have accelerated many other improvements, most notably the venue in which the team plays. Once tenants in the league's poorest venue, the Patriots now play in New England's premier entertainment venue. One of the most significant contributions to the organization's sustained success over the past two decades was securing financial approval for the construction of Gillette Stadium. Kraft developed the creative private-financing strategy for the $325 million construction of Gillette Stadium. Many financial experts dismissed the viability of his plan, which relied on year-round club memberships for new clientele rather than the more conventional sale of private seat licenses to existing season ticket holders. Kraft's unprecedented plan was considered a financial risk but proved to be universally successful.
Throughout the stadium initiative, no one was more involved in the planning, construction, opening and ongoing operation and development of Gillette Stadium than Kraft.
Kraft and the project team also drew praise for innovative environmental practices. In June of 2001, the Environmental Business Council presented the Kraft Group with the Environmental Award for Corporate Leadership. In May of 2002, the Kraft Group received New England's Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the development and construction of Gillette Stadium.
In 2002, Jonathan and Robert Kraft received the Sports Industrialists of the Year award, presented annually by Sports Business Daily. That year, the Krafts celebrated New England's first Super Bowl championship. Just a few months later, they christened their new stadium, earning various awards and praise for the project. They negotiated a new naming rights partnership with Gillette and celebrated a spectacular grand opening by hosting the 2002 season premiere of Monday Night Football as Super Bowl champions. One month later, the New England Revolution won the Eastern Conference to qualify for the MLS Cup at Gillette Stadium, which drew over 61,000 fans, the largest crowd in MLS history at that time. In an era when stadium names are regularly changing, Gillette has remained a constant in New England for the past 20 years, a tradition that will continue for at least another decade.
The Gillette Stadium staff has been promoting and producing world-class events in New England for more than 20 years under Kraft's direction. From the biggest names in live entertainment to international soccer, the NHL's Winter Classic, NCAA athletics, the Premier Lacrosse League and a full slate of motor sports offerings, the Kraft Group annually hosts the most diverse array of sports and entertainment events in the region, including the Army Navy Football Game in 2023.
Following the construction of Gillette Stadium, Kraft oversaw the Kraft Group's real estate development team's design and construction of Patriot Place, a mixed-use entertainment destination surrounding Gillette Stadium providing guests with a multitude of options, including dining, hospitality, specialty retail, lodging, world-class health care, night life and entertainment.
Throughout the life of Gillette Stadium, Kraft has been the creative force behind keeping the fan experience ahead of the ever-evolving sports and entertainment industry trends. The Kraft family continually invests in the long-term infrastructure with improvements designed to perpetually enhance the fan experience. Kraft has directed the additions and renovations of dozens of concession areas, lounges, suites and fan gathering sections, including the Optum Field Lounge, the DraftKings Fantasy Sports Zone and the Cross Insurance Pavilion & Business Center. Ubiquitous WiFi was installed and upgraded with plenty of bandwidth to accommodate capacity crowds. Environmentally friendly LED stadium lights, LED stadium signage and more than 14,000 feet of LED ribbon boards have also been installed throughout Gillette Stadium. In 2021, a new video board was installed in the south end zone measuring just under 53 feet high by 220 feet wide, providing 11,595 square feet of digital space to engage and entertain fans at Gillette Stadium. The video board is 70 percent larger than the previous installation.
Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, the Kraft family has committed more than $300 million in stadium enhancements. In 2022, they announced an additional $225 million investment and broke ground on the construction of a north end addition to the stadium that will feature the largest outdoor stadium HD video board in the country, a 50,000 square foot hospitality and function space atrium, a reimagined plaza leading into the stadium and a 21-story lighthouse featuring a 360-degree observation deck at the top.
After years of applying analytics to better understand customers and their buying behaviors, Kraft co-founded the Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR) in 2016, a progressive technology and service company providing data management, advanced analytics and consulting services for sports and entertainment organizations.
Prior to the Kraft family's ownership, the Patriots fan base was limited in range and scope. As a lifelong Patriots fan, Kraft was committed to expanding the Patriots fan base through innovative multimedia outreach. Under his directive, the Patriots became the first professional sports team to launch a web site in March of 1995 and the first to debut nightly video updates online. In 2004, the team showed their commitment to globalizing the Patriots brand when they launched the NFL's first Chinese-language version of their website. Entering the 2022 season, the Patriots have 328 registered fan clubs in 45 countries. The Patriots are also among the top teams in the NFL in terms of social media engagement, reaching more than 17 million followers across various platforms. The Patriots social media accounts serve multiple countries, including Brazil, Germany, China as well as a Spanish language account. The Patriots mobile app, which gives fans in-stadium access to live streaming of NFL RedZone, in-game statistics, among other content, is one of the most advanced in the league.
Following the Super Bowl XXXVI championship, Kraft commissioned the production of "3 Games to Glory," a DVD providing fans an opportunity to re-live what was then three of the most memorable games in franchise history. Since then, he has overseen the production of five sequels, each featuring over five hours of behind-the-scenes content. The Patriots are the only NFL team to produce and sell such extensive commemorative videos.
In March of 2020, when the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to overwhelm hospitals in the northeast, the Kraft family answered the call of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who had acquired nearly two million respirator masks in China and sought assistance in expediting the delivery to New England medical professionals and frontline workers. The Kraft family sent the New England Patriots team plane to Shenzhen, China to transport the critical PPE back to Boston for distribution throughout the Commonwealth, Rhode Island and New York. Throughout the global pandemic, the Kraft family hosted numerous COVID-19 relief efforts at Gillette Stadium, including the region's first and largest COVID-19 testing site for frontline workers, 17 weeks of blood drives, the distribution of over 6.5 million meals to veterans, military families and others in need, and the first large-scale vaccination site in the northeast, providing 610,283 vaccinations in less than five months. In all, the Kraft family has raised and contributed more than $20 million in COVID-19 relief efforts.
A graduate of Williams College (1986), Kraft is a Trustee Emeritus and former chair of the school's investment committee. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School (1990), where he currently serves on the Dean's Board of Advisors. Kraft has served on the Board of Trustees of Massachusetts General Hospital since 2010 and was named chair in 2019. He is also on the board of trustees for the Belmont Hill School and Dexter Southfield. He is on the investment advisory committee of The Engine, a venture firm founded by M.I.T. Additionally, Kraft is a member of the M.I.T. School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council, board member for Mass General Brigham and sits on the advisory board for the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative.
Kraft has been active in youth athletics and coached Pop Warner football, youth soccer and Little League baseball in the greater Boston area.
Jonathan and his wife, Patti, have three children.