The Patriots don't own the Globe.
The Red Sox do.
That's why the Globe continues to claim that "Boston is a baseball town", when in reality, nobody gives a **** about baseball.
I think there's a demographic dynamic too. The people who keep breathlessly claiming that the Sox own Boston happen to fall right in the middle of baseball's main demographic: old white guys.
http://opendorse.com/blog/2013-sports-fan-demographics/
MLB: 70% male, 50% age 55+, 83% white.
NFL: 65% male, 37% age 55+, 77% white.
NBA: 70% male, 25% age 55+, 40% white.
PGA: 65% male, 65% age 55+, 87% white.
NHL: 68% male, 29% age 55+, 92% white.
MLS: 68% male, 27% age 55+, 65% white
While gender breakdowns are pretty consistent across the major sports, age and race vary pretty widely. And by those measures, MLB is pretty much at the midpoint between golf and football. The people claiming that the Red Sox are still in charge simply aren't in touch with how little younger generations care about baseball.
Baseball had a solid century and a half of being one of the top dogs in American sports, but it really looks like that's winding down. Slowly, but it's happening. In the not-too-distant future, I see basketball and soccer both overtaking baseball, and eventually football too if they don't get their acts together, get proactive, and find some hail mary solution to the concussion crisis.
