Billionaire Donald Trump Was Once Offered the New England Patriots, But He Refused to Take On a $100 Million Debt

Donald Trump has had his hands in many, many businesses over the years. There are probably only a couple of ideas left from which the Former President has not tried to make money off. But did you know that Trump once came close to owning the New England Patriots? 

The year was 1988. New England Patriots were not perceived in the dynastical lens with which we see them today. Billy Sullivan, an American businessperson of prominence in the 60s and 70s, became the founding owner of the ‘Boston Patriots.’ They were part of the AFL from 1960 to 1969. After the merger, the team was called the ‘New England Patriots,’ the name which has lived on since then. 

In 1988, the Sullivan Family approached Donald Trump, a prominent New York Business Tycoon of the time. The former Billionaire was actually involved with the sport already, albeit infamously. 

Donald Trump was offered the Patriots Ownership

Trump was involved with an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. According to Snopes.com, even though Trump did not directly “sue the league.” But he did end up making around $3 million in damages from the lawsuit. 

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But the Sullivan family was interested in selling off the franchise because it was losing money fast. So, they reached out to Trump. But even Trump was unsure if he should take up the $104 million debt upon the team. At one point, the Team management even had to take a loan from the league just to be able to pay their players. 

Trump found the Pats too messy

It was a messy situation. And Trump wanted no part of it. Additionally, we don’t know for sure if the other owners would have accepted the prospect of adding him to the Owners’ table. Since, for any new owner to come on board, they require a 2/3rd majority from the other owners. 

And so the deal never went through. Finally, Victor Kiam became the owner of the New England Patriots after purchasing the team for $84 million. And eventually, Robert Kraft took over the ownership from Kiam, offering $227 million. Today, 28 years later, the team is valued at $5 billion, as per Forbes.  

As Mike Florio put it, Kraft buying the team changes the landscape of the NFL, “Although, it wasn’t obvious at the time.” 

Although, imagine if Trump went ahead with the deal. And bought the most decorated dynasties before they ever became that. Would the Pats be as successful as they are today? 

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