Kraft Group
Ownership group of Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots, suing Foxborough over security costs.
Kraft Group is disputing, in Norfolk Superior Court since 15 June 2026, Foxborough's right to charge it $7.8 million in security costs and a $953,640 fee on top of the roughly $8 million it already pays the town each year.
Last refreshed: 28 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Who pays for World Cup stadium security when the host town and the owner disagree?
Timeline for Kraft Group
Sued Foxborough on 15 June over the security and fee demands
2026 FIFA World Cup: Foxborough and Kraft go to courtBackground
Kraft Group is the private company that owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and the National Football League's New England Patriots.
Running the stadium and the franchise is Kraft's core business, work that continues regardless of any single tournament passing through. The Foxborough dispute is a discrete legal test of the terms under which Kraft's venues operate inside their host town, separate from the $875 million in documented federal security spending on the tournament, which involved no counterparty able to contest the bill.
How the Norfolk Superior Court case resolves will shape the licensing and cost-sharing terms under which Kraft Group's venues host future large events.
Kraft Group presses its Foxborough claim
Kraft Group's case against Foxborough is not about whether it will pay for World Cup security, but about how much, and under what authority. It already covers roughly $8 million a year in stadium-related costs; what it disputes in Norfolk Superior Court is a further $7.8 million security charge and a $953,640 administrative invoice, which it argues breaches a $100 cap state law sets on that kind of fee.
Foxborough's counterclaim casts Kraft's stadium and team companies as multibillion-dollar operators trying to dodge public-safety bills a small town cannot otherwise absorb. For an ownership group whose business is built on a stadium and an NFL franchise, the case tests how much licensing leverage a host town can exert over a tenant of Kraft's scale.