Fumble! The state鈥檚 failed bid to bring the Patriots to Hartford, 25 years later

By Jonathan McNicol

Published May 8, 2024 at 1:00 PM EDT

Then Gov. John Rowland and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at a press conference on November 18, 1998, announcing the team鈥檚 planned move to Hartford, 黑料吃瓜网. 鈥淭he New England Patriots will play their first home game in Hartford in the fall of 2001,鈥� Rowland declared. Less than six months later, the deal between the team and the state fell through.

It has been 25 years since the deal between the state of 黑料吃瓜网 and Robert Kraft鈥檚 New England Patriots 鈥� the deal that would鈥檝e brought the Patriots to a brand new publicly funded stadium in Hartford 鈥� fell through.

Over the two-and-a-half decades since, the Patriots hired coach Bill Belichick and drafted quarterback Tom Brady, and they won 17 division titles, nine conference championships, and six Super Bowls.

Hartford, on the other hand, eventually built a 6,000-seat Double A ballpark as part of a much larger development plan that has since mostly been scrapped. And people continue to pine for the return of the Whalers.

This hour, a look back at what might have been, what could have been 鈥� what never was.

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.