Kraft Would ‘Love’ to Host Local Super Bowl One Day

Could a Super Bowl ever be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough? New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says he would welcome the opportunity if Super Bowl XLVIII next February in New Jersey goes well.

“Let’s see how [the Super Bowl in New York goes],” Kraft told reporters Tuesday outside the NFL owners meetings in Boston. “We would love one day to hold [the Super Bowl locally] if it’s a good experience.”

Kraft was in Boston Tuesday with the NFL’s 31 other owners to vote on the sites of Super Bowl L and LI and discussed what would need to happen for the area to host its first ever Super Bowl in Foxborough.

“I think part of what it would require is political people in Boston and Providence coming together so we could really have the right number of hotel rooms and have the support,” Kraft said. … “It would require cooperation from all the political folks who would have to gather together and want this and come together like they do in other parts of the country.”

But first, the league needs to see how the Super Bowl experience in a cold weather city is.

 “Let’s see what happens next year [in New York/New Jersey],” Kraft said.

The Patriots owner told reporters he supported a Super Bowl being played in New York/New Jersey to show the world post-911 that we as a country “are back and strong and functioning.”

“I think it’s great and I hope we can be in the game,” Kraft said with a smile. “We like playing in cold weather.”

Taking that notion a step further, Kraft says the priority for his team will always be playing in the Super Bowl rather than planning to host one.

“It’d be good [to host a Super Bowl but] I’d rather be in the game than attract it here,” Kraft said. “That’s going to be our priority. We will see what happens.”

NFL owners voted Tuesday to hold Super Bowl L at the San Francisco 49ers new stadium (not yet opened) in Santa Clara, Calif. in 2016 and Super Bowl LI at Reliant Stadium in Houston in 2017.

With two upcoming Super Bowls being held at two-city sites (New York/New Jersey and San Francisco/Santa Clara) the Boston/Providence/Foxborough site could become an attractive possibility if cold weather games gain momentum.

“I sort of like Boston and Providence,” Kraft said. “This is where it all started, right here. … We are looking forward to seeing this experience in New York and New Jersey.”

According to ESPNBoston.com, the earliest Gillette Stadium would be able to host a Super Bowl would be in 2018, “but the competition could be stiff” as Indianapolis has already began the bidding process for the big game.

To watch Kraft’s interview Tuesday in its entirety on Patriots Today, click here.

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