They have bond

You may have seen Patriots owner Robert Kraft sitting with Red Sox owner John Henry at Fenway Park last season, and the two sat together at a playoff game in New York. They were together again Nov. 14 when the Patriots honored the Red Sox with a ceremony at Gillette Stadium.

Friendship, business, or both?

Both have said their friendship is genuine, and neither has discounted the possibility of future business between the franchises.

"Robert and I have a very close relationship," Henry said via e-mail last week. "There aren't many cities in which the principal owners from different professional sports would so warmly embrace each other's championships. He came to Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series to sit next to me and show his unconditional support for what we were trying to accomplish this year. He is the warmest man I have met in professional sports."

When pressed about a possible business relationship, Henry said, "I completely trust the business judgment, and more importantly, the integrity of Robert and [his son and Patriots vice chairman] Jonathan. If an opportunity ever presented itself to work together in a meaningful way, I would try to make it happen.

"However, sometimes you prefer friendship over and above working relationships that inevitably lead to disagreement, although sometimes small in nature. Thus far I've been extraordinarily lucky in choosing to work with friends and then seeing the working relationship remain that of friends working together and greatly enjoying it.

"So it could happen. But at this stage of our lives it would have to be something very meaningful for us to want to add to the quite full and substantive lives we already have with the Red Sox and Patriots."

It's understood that the Red Sox fan base is more far-reaching than the Patriots' because of their history, but the Patriots' recent success has made them a strong No. 2 or No. 1-A in this region.

Jonathan Kraft doesn't believe the teams are really competing for the same consumer or sponsorship dollar, believing there's enough to go around.

"Think about it," he said. "They sell out their tickets, we sell out ours. They have huge TV ratings, we have huge TV ratings. It's a big enough market where both teams get their share of the corporate sponsorship dollar. Both teams are very attractive to sponsors because of the way they do business.

"We're lucky to be in a market where both teams are committed to excellence in the same market. It's very unique. It's very unique that we're this close. We have the deepest respect for John Henry and we would always consider doing business with him if the right situation came along."

Neither Kraft nor Henry would specify what business venture they could share. It's obvious the Patriots are intent on expanding their sports empire. They already own the New England Revolution and have a lucrative in-house media business that includes a website, web radio, and a magazine, in addition to in-house produced TV programs. The Red Sox have NESN, which is expanding almost monthly to become more like the Yankees' YES Network.