 Gillette Stadium
Foxboro, MA
With superstars such as quarterback Tom Brady and a winning percentage of
.830, Gillette Stadium has been the home to one of the best teams in the NFL
since its opening in 2002. The Patriots have been a part of the New England
football landscape since 1960 when they played at Nickerson Field. They
played at Fenway Park, Alumni Stadium and Harvard Stadium before moving into
Foxboro Stadium in 1971. Foxboro Stadium could be mistaken for a college football stadium instead of a
NFL stadium for several reasons. Even though it seated over 60,000 fans, by the 1990s
it lacked many amenities that newer stadiums possessed. Changes in ownership almost led to the Patriots
to move to St. Louis after James Orthweinin bought the club in
1992. However, Robert Kraft, who owned Foxboro Stadium
purchased the Patriots in 1994, keeping them in New England.
By the mid 1990s, the
building boom of new stadiums was in full swing and the Patriots
began lobbying for a new stadium. Sites in South Boston, 22 miles
from Foxboro, and in Providence, RI, were proposed but never
materialized. In 1998, the Patriots and the State of Connecticut
reached an agreement to build a stadium in Hartford, CT, but failed
because of site issues and pressure from the NFL.
After several referendums failed to
pass, Kraft decided to use his own money to construct the Patriots
a new stadium. Construction on the Patriots new stadium began on
March 24, 2000. Like many other NFL teams, the Patriots sold the
naming rights to the stadium. Originally, CMGI Investments purchased the naming rights. However,
in August 2002, the Gillette Company bought the naming rights to
the stadium after CMGI Investments faced financial failures.
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