BankBoston confirmed yesterday that when it financed
Robert Kraft's purchase of the Patriots in '94 it negotiated
an arrangement that will allow it to receive 7.5% of any
appreciation in the value of the team over ten years,
according to Bailey & Syre of the BOSTON GLOBE. Kraft
offered the "phantom stock" in the franchise as a
"sweetener" to the bank as he was negotiating "frantically"
to buy the team. Bailey & Syre note the disclosure of the
stock -- "essentially a right to a cut in the appreciation
Kraft sees over the first 10 years he owns the team or if he
sells -- could undermine the unusually high-profile push" by
the bank and its CEO, Charles Gifford, to secure a stadium
in South Boston for Kraft. And sources say the deal
contributed to the "rift" between Gifford and BankBoston's
former Chair Ira Stepanian. After the deal was complete,
Gifford reportedly "pushed hard" for an expensive ad and
promotions package with the Patriots, including possible
naming rights at Foxboro Stadium (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/24).
ONE STEP FORWARD? The GLOBE's Vaillancourt & Cassidy
report that the MA Port Authority Board unanimously approved
a so-called "term sheet," which lays out the conditions
under which Massport staff members can begin negotiating a
lease with Kraft for a South Boston facility. Massport's
plan calls for leasing Kraft its land in South Boston for up
to 65 years for $500,00 a year, as well as the option to
develop an acre-and-a-half site across from the proposed
stadium site. If Kraft spends $1.5M developing the acre-an-
a-half site, he can collect up to $3M in rent credits on the
property. Leaders opposed to the stadium project announced
they will take Massport to court next week "in an effort to
rescind the agreement" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/24).
