Jonathan Kraft is the President of the Kraft Group which is comprised of companies in sports and entertainment, the paper and packaging industry, real estate, and private equity investing. He oversees the day-to-day operations of each company.
Kraft oversees the management and strategic planning of each department within the organization and represents the Patriots in all league matters.
Kraft serves on multiple NFL owner committees including Business Ventures, Legalized Sports Betting and Media Owned and Operated and he is the chairman of the Fan Engagement and Major Events Committee. He is also a member of the 32 Equity Committee.
When the Kraft family purchased the Patriots in 1994, Jonathan led the rebuilding and re-branding of the franchise, growing the fan base and bringing long-overdue stability to the once wayward organization.
In an era when stadium names are regularly changing, Gillette Stadium has remained a constant in New England. The venue was intentionally designed with open spaces and room to grow and evolve with its needs. It is now New England's premier entertainment venue. One of the most significant contributions to the organization's sustained success over the past two decades was securing financial approval for the construction of the stadium. Kraft developed the creative private-financing strategy for its $325 million construction. Many financial experts dismissed the viability of his plan, which relied on year-round club memberships for new clientele rather than the more conventional sale of personal seat licenses to existing season ticket holders. Kraft's unprecedented plan was considered a financial risk but proved to be universally successful. In addition to the business and financial accolades the Krafts received for the deal, Kraft and the project team also drew praise for innovative environmental practices in the construction of the stadium.
Throughout the stadium initiative, Kraft led the planning, construction, opening and ongoing operation and development of Gillette Stadium. He has been the creative force behind keeping the fan experience ahead of the ever-evolving sports and entertainment industry trends.
The Kraft family continually invests in the long-term infrastructure with improvements designed to perpetually enhance the fan experience without the sale of personal seat licenses. In the stadium's first 20 years, they committed more than $300 million in stadium enhancements with additions and renovations of dozens of concession areas, lounges, suites and fan gathering sections, including digital and technological upgrades and preeminent hospitality spaces to enhance the game day and event experience for all visitors. Most recently, in the largest investment to the stadium since it opened, Gillette Stadium underwent a $250 million improvement and renovation of the north end featuring a completely re-imagined entrance and front door to the stadium with a grand staircase leading onto the concourse, a new and enhanced 22-story lighthouse with a 360-degree observation deck, the largest outdoor curve-radius video board at a sports venue in the country, a renovated Row of Honor and new and improved concession locations, restrooms and other fan amenities, bringing the total investment in the stadium to over half a billion dollars.
Gillette Stadium has been the home of world-class events in New England for over 20 years under Kraft's direction. From the biggest names in live entertainment to international soccer, the NHL's Winter Classic, NCAA athletics, the Premier Lacrosse League and motor sports offerings, Gillette Stadium annually hosts the most diverse array of sports and entertainment events in the region, including the Army Navy Football Game in 2023 and the World Cup in 2026.
Following the construction of Gillette Stadium, Kraft oversaw the Kraft Group's real estate development team's design and construction of Patriot Place, a mixed-use entertainment destination surrounding Gillette Stadium, providing guests with a multitude of options, including dining, hospitality, specialty retail, lodging, world-class health care, night life and entertainment.
Prior to the Kraft family's ownership, the Patriots fan base was limited in range and scope. Kraft was committed to expanding the Patriots brand through innovative multimedia outreach. Under his directive, the Patriots became the first professional sports team to launch a web site in March of 1995 and the first to debut nightly video updates online. In 2004, the team showed their commitment to globalizing the Patriots brand when they launched the NFL's first Chinese-language version of their website. In 2021, the Patriots were awarded Germany as an official "home market" through the International Home Marketing Area (IHMA) initiative which has allowed the team to grow its fan base abroad and develop additional opportunities for marketing, fan engagement and business development including in-person and digital marketing opportunities, corporate sponsorships, and events in a new market. In 2023, the Patriots were awarded Austria and Switzerland as official "home markets," in addition to Germany. In April of 2024, the Patriots also added Brazil as a home market.
In addition to these ventures, after years of managing in-house operations for applying analytics to better understand customers and their buying behaviors, Kraft spun out the in-house technology and services to co-found the Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR) in 2016, a progressive technology and service company providing data management, advanced analytics and consulting services for sports and entertainment organizations.
In March of 2020, when the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to overwhelm hospitals in the northeast region, the Kraft family answered the call of former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who had acquired 1.8 million masks in China and sought assistance in expediting the delivery to New England medical professionals and frontline workers. The New England Patriots team plane was utilized to transport the critical PPE back to Boston. Throughout the global pandemic, Gillette Stadium hosted the region's first and largest COVID-19 testing site for frontline workers and the first large-scale vaccination site in the northeast region.
A graduate of Williams College, Kraft is a trustee emeritus and a member of the Williams College Investment Committee. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he currently serves on the Dean's Board of Advisors. Kraft has served on the Board of Trustees of Massachusetts General Hospital since 2010 and was named chair in 2019. He is on the Board of Directors for TKO Group Holdings, Inc., which comprises UFC and WWE. He is also on the Board of Trustees for Belmont Hill School and Dexter Southfield. Additionally, Kraft is a member of the M.I.T. School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council, a board member for Mass General Brigham and sits on the advisory board for the Billie Jean King Foundation.
