The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The Patriots play home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Boston.[12] The franchise is owned by Robert Kraft, who purchased the team in 1994. As of 2023, the Patriots are the second most valuable sports team in the world and have sold out every home game since 1994.