What A Real Owner Thinks

So I've been watching a lot more cable TV lately. On CNBC, they're running a show called "Touchdown: The Patriots and the Business of Winning," about the New England Patriots and their owner, Bob Kraft.

Kraft bought the team in 1994, a year after they went 5-11 and had just lost something like 34 out of their last 50 games (IIRC). Three years later, they were in the Super Bowl, losing to the Green Bay Packers. Sometime around 2000, he hired Bill Belichick away from Cleveland, and drafted Michigan quarterback Tom Brady. And they haven't looked back since.

There's a video clip from the show on the site, where Kraft says:

"If you're in the sports business, to me, making money isn't the first thing. It's about winning. Your customers don't wanna hear that it's not about winning. And if you're not passionate about winning, get out of the business. There's easier ways to make money."
There's another part in the show, where Tom Brady says that Kraft takes care of everything non-football related for the players and coaches, so they can focus on football, but I couldn't find the video of that online.

No comments: