Billy Sullivan

William Hallissey Sullivan Jr. (September 13, 1915 – February 23, 1998) was an American businessman who owned the Boston Patriots franchise from their inception in the American Football League (AFL, 1960–1969) until their sale, as the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL), to Victor Kiam in 1988.

Early life Sullivan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1915. He graduated from Lowell High School in 1933, then from Boston College in 1937. The son of a Boston Globe correspondent, Sullivan became a sportswriter after college. He also served as a publicity director for Boston College, the University of Notre Dame, and the Boston Braves franchise of Major League Baseball. Sullivan named his son, Patrick, as general manager and his other son, Chuck, as executive vice president. In 1964, Sullivan helped the AFL negotiate a 5-year, $30 million television agreement with NBC.

New England Patriots In March 1971, Sullivan changed the team's name from the Boston Patriots to the New England Patriots to correspond with the team's move to Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and to embrace all of New England (a previous decision in February to rebrand as the "Bay State Patriots" was rejected).

In 1974, Sullivan was ousted as president of the Patriots despite owning more than 20% of the voting stock. By the end of 1975, the Sullivans had bought out the minority partners and regained control. This was out of necessity; the only way he could pay back the $5.3 million in loans that he took out to buy out his partners was to acquire all of the outstanding stock. In order to do this, Sullivan needed to buy out the non-voting public shareholders. In 1986, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found the purchase of the minority shareholders was illegal, since it was for Sullivan's personal benefit. The court deemed his actions constituted a waste of corporate assets. The court ordered that the shareholders be paid $80 per share plus 9% interest per year since the purchase was completed. The Sullivans had never been among the wealthier NFL owners; by at least one estimate, the losses from the tour equaled the Sullivans' net worth. The Victory Tour losses were particularly hard on the Patriots because Sullivan had only been able to get financing for the tour by pledging Sullivan Stadium as collateral.

In hopes of finding a way out, Sullivan asked Reebok CEO Paul Fireman to purchase a stake in the team. When that effort failed, Sullivan was forced to sell the team to a syndicate headed by Remington Products owner Victor Kiam for $83 million. Sullivan remained as the team's president until 1992, when he and Kiam sold the team to James Orthwein. However, the stadium lapsed into bankruptcy and was purchased by Boston paper magnate Robert Kraft.

During Sullivan's 28 seasons owning the team, the Patriots tallied 14 winning records, made six playoff appearances, played in the 1963 AFL Championship Game and represented the AFC in Super Bowl XX.

In 1991, Sullivan filed a $116 million antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and accepted an $11.5 million settlement of the case in 1996.

Death After an 8-year battle with prostate cancer, Sullivan died in his Atlantis, Florida retirement home in 1998.