Gillette Stadium is getting a $225 million facelift

Pittsburgh Steelers v New England Patriots
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Gillette Stadium opened in 2002. For its twentieth anniversary, it will be getting its biggest improvements since the ribbon cutting.

The Patriots announced on Friday that stadium upgrades costing $225 million will be made.

The revamped venue will have 360-degree connectivity at all levels, allowing upper- and lower-deck fans to traverse the full circumference of the stadium. Also installed will be what the team calls “the largest outdoor stadium high-definition video board in the country,” measuring 370 feet by 60 feet. That’s 22,200 square feet, nearly 500 square feet larger than the 362-by-60-foot video boards in Jacksonville.

The new look will include a new and larger lighthouse, 218 feet high.

The stadium is fully owned and operated by the Kraft family. Per the announcement, $300 million previously has been invested in enhancing the facility.

Construction begins in 2022. The changes are expected to be made before the start of the 2023 season.

40 responses to “Gillette Stadium is getting a $225 million facelift

  1. The majority of the OTHER owners should take note how the Krafts upgrade their OWN house and don’t ask for taxpayer $$$.

  2. needed more room for banners. 🙂

    “the largest outdoor stadium high-definition video board in the country”

    That is over a half acre!!!

  3. Belichick is gonna coach the game from the lighthouse, just to mess with the opponents head

  4. I heard a rumor about going back to natural grass again as well. All good news. The Mac Era begins with throwbacks being allowed again and more stadium enhancements.

  5. Are we building in another area for Dynasty II’s SuperBowl banners? We ran out of room for the last one and had to move them.

  6. I love that the Krafts want give the fans the best possible experience when attending a game.

  7. Eight or 9 regular season games, 2 preseason games and maybe 3 post season games. That’s 14 days of optimal use, 3.8% of days, and only about 25% of the day.

    Is it me or is the cost of these stadiums absurd?

  8. I must be getting old. I remember when $225M used to buy a state-of-the-art stadium, now it’s just a “facelift.” I guess it’s not just gas prices.

  9. Kraft is the GOAT owner. Compare him to Jerry Jones and his latest meddling: Can you imagine Kraft saying anything to the media, in this lifetime or the next, about how the Patriot receivers run their routes? Kraft realizes that making such comments undermines the coaching staff and sows discontent in the locker room. He stays silent publicly, expressing any arising issues privately. It’s the mark of great leadership.

  10. Where is the part about threatening to leave if taxpayers don’t pony up millions of dollars to get the renovations done? Are you saying this can actually be done without the taxpayers footing the bill?

  11. Does this mean a Super Bowl is coming to New England? Usually when a team takes on a costly stadium project without public funding there is a perk the league will throw at them.

  12. Kudos to the Krafts and the Pats for making this happen and not leaning on taxpayers to fund it.

    In other news…. I will never be able to afford to take my kids to a game ever.

  13. When Bill Belichick brings up the quality of the kicking game…you know something big is about to go down in Foxborough. Patriots fans know this well.

  14. Natural grass? That would be great. I miss the days when they used to spray paint the frozen mud green for the playoffs.

  15. It is pretty crazy how much these stadiums cost to build and upgrade for 10-15 games a year. They have done the math and the owners are making billions so it makes sense but wow that is big money.

  16. alphadux2u says:
    December 10, 2021 at 2:05 pm
    I must be getting old. I remember when $225M used to buy a state-of-the-art stadium, now it’s just a “facelift.” I guess it’s not just gas prices.
    =======================================================

    Kraft brought the entire Patriots for $172M in 1994.

  17. Terry & Kim Pegula must not be very happy with the timing of this announcement. So sorry Bills fans.

  18. georgeremus says:
    December 10, 2021 at 1:22 pm
    The Patriots played in Schaefer Stadium before Gillette…..it cost $7M to build.
    —————————————————————–

    Those aluminum benches sure were nasty on a cold December day.

  19. “Terry & Kim Pegula must not be very happy with the timing of this announcement. So sorry Bills fans.”

    You might say the Kraft’s just ran right through them and couldn’t be stopped….

  20. Not only were those aluminum seats cold, like Fenway, they were built for 135 lb people. At 5’11 205, not real comfy. Remember the time they asked Pats fans to bring shovels to shovel out their own seats? That may have been the Classic throwing the snow after the Bruschi p6

  21. georgeremus says:
    December 10, 2021 at 1:22 pm
    The Patriots played in Schaefer Stadium before Gillette…..it cost $7M to build.

    ———————————-
    And was worth about $2 million, until toward the end there it was dropping down close to about 65 cents.

  22. @Godzilla
    But it was a bargain at the time, and it kept the Patriots in New England to later be saved by the Kraft Family.

  23. The fact they need a score board that big only cements the fact I’m not missing much from my couch. I’m a Pats fan but beers are one dollar and there is no bathroom line at my house.

  24. tsul0901 says:
    December 13, 2021 at 6:38 am
    Remember the cascading waterfalls in the aisles when it rained in the old stadium? lol

    ******
    I remember a 6-0 loss to the Jets around 91-93 time period. Torrential downpours the entire game leading to the cascading waterfalls! Thanks for the great memory! Had a great time at that game. Stayed until the end because we were waiting for that hopeful play….which never came! Made me laugh.

  25. tedmurph says:
    December 10, 2021 at 6:33 pm
    Not only were those aluminum seats cold, like Fenway, they were built for 135 lb people. At 5’11 205, not real comfy. Remember the time they asked Pats fans to bring shovels to shovel out their own seats? That may have been the Classic throwing the snow after the Bruschi p6

    *****
    Like the rain game, I remember this game like it was yesterday! All you heard during the first quarter were the fans banging their heels on the seats to break up the snow and ice!

  26. As a young fan my father took us to see the patriots play at BU field, HARVARD stadium, FENWAY park and then came SCHAEFER stadium which with a name change became SULLIVAN stadium. Who
    Can forget those aluminum seats, men’s room overflowing on the first.night game. The rain caused waterfalls, and the great traffic jams trying to get out of the place. The special game day trains that would drop you off behind the horse track and that walk, er hike into the stadium. Great memories. Poor Jim Plunkett almost getting killed nehind that O line. The kraft family was part of the crowd in those days and they were indeed saviors who kept the ream from moving.

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