Were the New England Patriots ever publicly owned?

Answer 1

The New England Patriots are and always have been a privately held company.

However there was a period in 1984-1988 when then owner and founder of the Patriots Billy Sullivan petitioned the NFL to sell stock in the Patriots, similar to what Green Bay had done. The Sullivan family had made some bad financial decisions, culminating in the Jackson 5 Victory Tour. The Victory Tour was a financial disaster and the family lost millions of dollars. It left the Sullivan family, who were not among the wealthiest NFL owners to begin with, in dire financial straights, with the family considering bankruptcy. Billy Sullivan petitioned the NFL to sell 50% of the Patriots.

The NFL did not want to allow public ownership of a franchise other than Green Bay, which was a special case. The reasoning behind the decision was never made public, but most conjecture that the League did not want a publically traded company because the financial books would have to become public record.

With the NFL declining the Sullivan petition, the founders of the last team established in the AFL were forced to sell the team. Remington Products Victor Kiam purchased the team from the Sullivan Family as a result.

In an interesting aside to the story was while the Sullivan Family never did have to declare bankruptcy, they did allow the Stadium to enter receivership. The stadium was bought out of bankruptcy court by Robert Kraft, who would purchase the team a few years later.