Ownership as Tzedakah
Thirteen years ago, Robert Kraft bought the New England Patriots. The Mike Reiss does a nice retrospective, and this statement caught my eye:
"When my wife doubted me in buying the team, I told her that if we did a good job managing this asset, we'd do more in terms of impacting the psyche of the community than if we were in position to give a million dollars a week away," Kraft said. "Sport can bring a community together in ways that nothing else does. It's the great equalizer."
What an amazing perspective. The Krafts promised to bring a Super Bowl championship to Boston, instead of letting the Patriots go to St. Louis. And while I'm sure that making money was a big piece of their motivation, the Krafts' philanthropy is well-known (including the Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem), so I believe that the goal of increasing happiness in New England was a big piece of their motives.
Thank you, Bob and Myra Kraft.
