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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 easily be mistaken for a college football stadium instead of a
NFL stadium. Even though it seated over 60,000 fans, by the 1990s
it lacked many amenities that newer stadiums possessed. The
Patriots nearly left Foxboro for 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.
The New England Patriots played their first
game at Gillette Stadium on September 9, 2002. Gillette Stadium is
a vast improvement over Foxboro Stadium. The stadium has
68,000 seats, the majority on both sidelines consisting of three seating decks. The lower section of
seats nearly enclose the field, while the club and upper levels of
seating are on both sides of the gridiron. All of the seats are
angled toward the 50 yard line giving fans an excellent view of
the action on the field. Gillette Stadium has 80 luxury suites
and
over 6,000 club seats. Two massive video/scoreboards are located beyond both endzones.
Gillette Stadium also has a 120,000 square foot Patriots Club
lounge that is used year-around. A lighthouse motif and a bridge
bring a New England feel to the stadium. These
are located at the North Portal
Plaza, where many fans enter the stadium. Gillette Stadium is also the home of the New England
Revolution (MLS). As a result of the problematic issues with the grass field
during the 2006 season, the Patriots installed Fieldturf in
November 2006.
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