Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady‘s franchise Hall of Fame induction ceremony announcement raised some eyebrows on Wednesday.
The Patriots will charge $100 a seat for the June 12 event at Gillette Stadium, and WEEI’s Adam Jones isn’t happy about it.
“A hundred dollars is gross,” Jones said during the “Jones & Mego with Arcand” show on Wednesday. “This just feels like a money grab on the good times.”
“It’s just another opportunity to fill your stadium on the back of Tom Brady,” Jones said. “That’s all it is.”
Brady filled seats in Foxborough between 2001 and 2019 in his storied tenure with the Patriots. He won six Super Bowls, three MVPs, and amassed many passing records along the way.
It hasn’t been that way since Brady left in free agency for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. The Patriots have reached the playoff once amid three losing seasons since Brady’s departure.
Adam Jones is disgusted that the Patriots are charging $100 for Brady’s Hall of Fame inauguration and calls it a money grab!
“You guys haven’t accomplished a thing on your own. You haven’t done anything without Tom Brady, and now you need Tom Brady for another money grab? To me, that just feels gross — the word I keep going back to,” Jones said.
At the very least, the Patriots would have dealt with a scheduling challenge to bring back Brady during the season. He will broadcast games for FOX this fall after a year away from the game.
Patriots Could Be Hard-Pressed to Fill Seats This Year
New England hasn’t shown a lot of promise toward making a turnaround in 2024 after a 4-13 season. The Patriots did little in free agency, and many roster holes remain as the draft approaches in late April.
“I understand what you’re saying about not wanting to fill the pockets of the Krafts after all of this,” WEEI host Christian Arcand said on the show. “But I do think that looking at this next season, you’re not going to see that place banged out in every home game.”
“So that’s one more statement the fans can make because yeah, ‘we’re here for Brady and we love him, but we’re not all in with you and we’re going to show that to you during the season,'” Arcand added.
What About the Entertainment?
The 🐐 returns.
Enter for a chance to win tickets to @TomBrady‘s @TheHall induction ceremony: t.co/fXsUjRFOmU
Fellow WEEI host Meghan Ottolini joked that former Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart will attend. Arcand replied “maybe that’s what it is” with the ticket prices.
“That’s what gets me to want to say ‘I already am mad at ownership.’ That’s what gets me to say that’s too much money,'” Jones said. “It’s just too much … a hundred dollars to see what? What am I seeing?”
“That’s what I’m asking,” Ottolini interjected. “I want to know what the entertainment is going to be.”
“Even if the entertainment’s great, what am I seeing? What am I getting? What haven’t I got out of this before,” Jones asked. “I have to pay a hundred dollars — never mind what else I’m going to get. I know parking is supposedly free, but there’s other parking that’s $25 on top of that. It’s like, ‘what I’m going to be there 2 1/2 hours, and I’m not getting beer. I’m not going to choke down a hotdog or whatever, and so like how far am I into this now?'”
“That’s for one ticket. Never mind two tickets. It feels gross,” Jones said. “It feels like everything that I’m anti right now with the Patriots … or the Krafts rather.”
“I guess I can see that but it’s not like we’re the only ones who do something like this,” Ottolini said.
Comments
Patriots Called Out for ‘Money Grab’ Involving Tom Brady