Robert Kraft - Other Activities and Hobbies

Other Activities and Hobbies

Soccer is a hobby of the Kraft family. After selling $3.5 million tickets for the 1994 World Cup, they saw a savvy business opportunity to invest in the new professional soccer league Major League Soccer. In 1995, Robert Kraft became the investor / operator of the New England Revolution from Major League Soccer. The team had a successful run from 2002-2007, with 4 MLS Cup appearances in 6 years. Robert Kraft attended in person for 3 of the 4 appearances, opting for a regular season New England Patriots game instead of attending the 2006 MLS Cup between his New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo.

In 2005, a minor international incident was caused when it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had inadvertently taken one of Kraft's three Super Bowl rings. Kraft quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, stating that he had given Putin the ring out of "respect and admiration" he had for Putin and the Russian people.

In November 2005, Kraft met with Rick Parry, the Chief Executive of English football team Liverpool. Kraft was rumoured to be interested in investing money into the 2004-05 European Champions. Kraft told BBC Radio Five Live: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen." Eventually, however, the club was sold to American duo George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Liverpool was eventually sold to another local sports ownership in 2010, New England Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox.