"If our family is to be part of something, we want to be sure we have a chance to compete year in and year out," Kraft said. "You don't have salary caps and you have certain team owners that can spend year in and year out. I'd rather give the money to charity to be honest."
Kraft owns the New England Patriots and New England Revolution. Both the National Football League and Major League Soccer operate under strict financial rules that govern how much teams can spend on players. The 70-year-old executive prefers these systems to the free-spending ways of English and European soccer.
English clubs Manchester City and Chelsea as well as France's Paris Saint-Germain have transformed top-flight soccer under new owners in recent years. Their wealthy owners have moved to quickly — and expensively — assemble squads consisting of world-class talent.
Kraft prefers an environment in which the amount of money he spends does not determine his team's chances of success.
"If we were to compete, I'd rather be competing against somebody working with similar budgets, then it's how well we manage," he said. "Part of the reason that the NFL is as successful as it is, is that all 32 teams have an equal chance to win. It's how well you manage the resources."
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