The New England Patriots will keep parking their Boeing 767 planes at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport for another five years under a deal that keeps the Warwick hub as the team’s official airport.
And all it will cost the team is one dollar — along with a lot of courtesy advertising to boost the airport’s regional branding.
That’s according to the agreement approved by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation this month which waives landing and parking fees for the team’s two jumbo jets at T.F. Green through July 2030. In exchange, the Patriots will continue to provide the Warwick airport with a series of promotional benefits including permission to use the team’s name and image in ads in every New England state, aside from Vermont.
The six-time Super Bowl champs must also provide T.F. Green signage along the endzone at each home game at Gillette Stadium, along with digital ads on the team’s website, mobile applications, and social media; and Patriot game radio spots.
T.F. Green has been the official airport of the Patriots since the two signed a similar deal in 2017.
“This agreement benefits both parties and allows us to advertise within our catchment area in a meaningful and cost-effective way that has helped us increase passenger volume,” Iftikhar Ahmad, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, said in a statement.
A Patriots spokesperson declined to comment on the renewed deal.
New ads are still in development by the Denver-based agency Karsh Hagan, according to Nikolas Persson, RIAC’s senior vice president of business development and information technology.
No firm numbers are listed in the new contract with the Patriots, aside from the estimated five million impressions that digital ads will likely provide the airport each football season.
Charts provided to Rhode Island Current show airport officials waived nearly $527,000 worth of fees between 2020 and 2024 while the Patriots provided a little over $6.1 million worth of ads in that same period.
Whatever airport officials get out of the new deal, University of Rhode Island marketing professor Dan Sheinin sees the continued partnership with the Patriots as a way for T.F. Green to to set itself apart from regional competitors like Logan International Airport in Boston or Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
“For Green, the component is to stay in the mental conversation,” he said. “I’m sure everybody knows it’s there — but if people don’t have any experience with the airport or haven’t been there for a long time, they probably don’t think about it.”
And there’s no bigger brand to boost that name recognition with than the National Football League.
“The NFL is one of the hottest culture and entertainment brands that exists,” Sheinin said. “Any brand or entity that’s affiliated with any aspect of the shield is going to get some sort of halo benefits from that — even if it’s a team that’s in the lower half of the league.”
It hasn’t been a good few years for the Patriots. The team is coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons and has had two coaching changes. But the deal makers were apparently optimistic that the team can return to its winning ways, as the contract includes provisions for branding around postseason games.
“If the Patriots get back to being competitive, this kind of association will be even more valuable,” Sheinin said.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
