Going to a Patriots game @ Gillette for the 1st time...

As for seat area you may want to save money and find seats in the second or third level. Although you feel more in the game on the lower bowl the field perception is not good, they stand the whole game so if you are smaller and people in front of you are taller it is frustrating. The higher you go the better the overall field view.Avoid Patriots sideline seats on 1:00 pm games in September. Hot and sun is shining right in your eyes. It is the Sunny side.

As far as getting there. If you want to walk around before the game then the train is out. It gets there an hour and a half before the game and leaves 30 minutes after the game. I also think the train is a round trip ticket so you cannot buy a ticket just for the ride home. It takes 30-45 minutes to get into line and to your seats. If you Uber there are neighborhoods behind the satellite parking lots on the right side where they can drop you off and pick you up without them having to deal with Rt 1 which is a nightmare for a Uber ride. The driver would have to charge you for a 2 hour ride both ways which would be like taking a Uber to a Drive-In movie. Cost $283 each way . Good Luck and have fun.

Elijah said:

Maybe it would be useful to combine all the info, but I don't see a problem with the existence itself of these threads. Going to Gillette doesn't get to be a normal, boring experience for everyone.

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All the good advices, tips, and new information has to be kept in one place, not lost in the various threads on coming to Gillette for the first time, that will just sink into the archive.

Ebay has never failed me.

Craigslist either but that's more risky.

Where are you coming from?

If you can make The Hall it's an awesome experience. I'll echo what others have said about arriving early.

We will be doing the same thing, Jets - Patriots in September will be our first game in Gillette (live on the west coast so haven't had a chance until now).

A couple more questions to semi-hijack the thread:

We don't really need to be close to the field, 300 section on the Jets sideline is fine. Is the crowd energy still good up there? Should we expect some percentage of enemy Jets fans or have their spirits all been crushed?

Ticket prices up there are about $300 plus fees, any chance they come down or should I lock them in now? There are fewer tickets available in each section than I would have expected, which is probably for the best.

TB_Helmet said:

Should we expect some percentage of enemy Jets fans or have their spirits all been crushed?

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Screw Jete fans. They're ALL morons and I am not exaggerating, drawing on 27 years' experience home and away. Yes, there will be a few there but it is YOUR team's stadium and it is your OBLIGATION not to suffer any crap from them. In fact, you also are obliged to ride them unmercifully once their green puke of a team gets behind and struggles. Make sure they can see the scoreboard -- point it out to them early and often. Their overrated quarterback, Dam Darnit (a/k/a Blockhead Blunder Boy), WILL be intercepted, after which you should laugh loudly into the ears of whatever green-wearing idiot is seated nearby. Mind you, I normally am a civil and respectful host to visiting fans. But common sportsmanship is suspended for Jete games. Make sure that all Jete fans you see go home sad, frustrated and angry at having wasted their day in Foxboro. Indigestion over finding a flat tire on their car in the parking lot should be the highlight of their ill-advised visit, perhaps followed by a costly speeding ticket before running out of gas on their way home to mom's basement.

Tunescribe said:

Screw Jete fans. They're ALL morons and I am not exaggerating, drawing on 27 years' experience home and away. Yes, there will be a few there but it is YOUR team's stadium and it is your OBLIGATION not to suffer any crap from them. In fact, you also are obliged to ride them unmercifully once their green puke of a team gets behind and struggles. Make sure they can see the scoreboard -- point it out to them early and often. Their overrated quarterback, Dam Darnit (a/k/a Blockhead Blunder Boy), WILL be intercepted, after which you should laugh loudly into the ears of whatever green-wearing idiot is seated nearby. Mind you, I normally am a civil and respectful host to visiting fans. But common sportsmanship is suspended for Jete games. Make sure that all Jete fans you see go home sad, frustrated and angry at having wasted their day in Foxboro. Indigestion over finding a flat tire on their car in the parking lot should be the highlight of their ill-advised visit, perhaps followed by a costly speeding ticket before running out of gas on their way home to mom's basement.

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I went to a Pats-Jets game down at Metlife the first year they opened the stadium. Was the Randy Moss one handed catch over Revis. Pats lost that and I still don't know how but after I only had 1 60 yr old guy yell suck it kid.

The rest of the time they were arguing with themselves about if Sanchez is good or not. It was hilarious.

TB_Helmet said:

Ticket prices up there are about $300 plus fees, any chance they come down or should I lock them in now? There are fewer tickets available in each section than I would have expected, which is probably for the best.

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Wait! 300$ for nose-bleeds is ridiculous. I paid ~200$ or under once for a sunday 1pm game in october, including fees, and I think I still overpaid. Prices will come down, so I would recommend to wait until the week before the game (if you are willing to wait that long).
I travel from germany to Foxboro and usually wait until a day or two before the game. I even bought Super Bowl Tickets with the stubhub app Friday night before the game, when I already was in Atlanta. Stubhub has been reliable ever since - I know they charge you extra, but its an official reseller and therefore more trustworthy to me.

Arialgg said:

I’m will be in Boston over Sept 22nd, and am planning on going to the Jets & Patriots game... I am a NFL live game virgin.

You pros that have tips or wisdom to impart, I’m all ears.

Here are some of my most pertinent questions/concerns:

•Is there certain sites that have better ticket prices than others? They’ve all seemed pretty comparable so far-

•I’m planning on sitting on the Patriots lower sideline, paying $530-$600 per ticket (section 108 or 114 is what I’m deciding between right now)- but every site hits me with extra $130+ fees at checkout...is this ever avoidable?

•We will be staying in downtown Boston- uber-ing & walking everywhere... so for the 25+ miles to Gillette, is the train an Ok idea? Uber?We don’t mind a long ride or leaving early- I’d like some time to see Patriot place before the game.

Any input is appreciated- ( :

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Beat up Jets fans in the parking lot

Tunescribe said:

Screw Jete fans. They're ALL morons and I am not exaggerating, drawing on 27 years' experience home and away. Yes, there will be a few there but it is YOUR team's stadium and it is your OBLIGATION not to suffer any crap from them. In fact, you also are obliged to ride them unmercifully once their green puke of a team gets behind and struggles. Make sure they can see the scoreboard -- point it out to them early and often. Their overrated quarterback, Dam Darnit (a/k/a Blockhead Blunder Boy), WILL be intercepted, after which you should laugh loudly into the ears of whatever green-wearing idiot is seated nearby. Mind you, I normally am a civil and respectful host to visiting fans. But common sportsmanship is suspended for Jete games. Make sure that all Jete fans you see go home sad, frustrated and angry at having wasted their day in Foxboro. Indigestion over finding a flat tire on their car in the parking lot should be the highlight of their ill-advised visit, perhaps followed by a costly speeding ticket before running out of gas on their way home to mom's basement.

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Oh yeah, don't worry, I'm a professional trash talker, much to my wife's chagrin. But given a choice between being surrounded by invading Jets fans or sitting with fellow Pats fans in the sun, I'll take the latter and bring SPF60. A huge part of this pilgrimage is just to be with my people and share the experience of watching the GOAT in home territory.

patsfan7983 said:

Wait! 300$ for nose-bleeds is ridiculous. I paid ~200$ or under once for a sunday 1pm game in october, including fees, and I think I still overpaid. Prices will come down, so I would recommend to wait until the week before the game (if you are willing to wait that long).
I travel from germany to Foxboro and usually wait until a day or two before the game. I even bought Super Bowl Tickets with the stubhub app Friday night before the game, when I already was in Atlanta. Stubhub has been reliable ever since - I know they charge you extra, but its an official reseller and therefore more trustworthy to me.

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OK, thanks for that advice! I do this a lot for concerts and it's always a gamble, sometimes prices go down and sometimes supply gets eaten up and you're looking at 1.5x what you would have paid if you had locked in early. I'll hold out as long as I can.

Still interested to see if other people have opinions, I imagine it depends on the opponent and time of year. Maybe not as much demand for the Jets as some out of conference opponents and the like.

TB_Helmet said:

Oh yeah, don't worry, I'm a professional trash talker, much to my wife's chagrin. But given a choice between being surrounded by invading Jets fans or sitting with fellow Pats fans in the sun, I'll take the latter and bring SPF60. A huge part of this pilgrimage is just to be with my people and share the experience of watching the GOAT in home territory.

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There won't be THAT many Jete fans there, just a few sprinkled about.

First time at a game for me and a friend from Canada as well! GO PATS!! We are staying downtown Boston over the weekend and taking in the game. We are looking forward to it all and I’ve appreciated the thread, thanks!

Anyone looking to meet up on game day or even over the weekend feel free to send me a DM.

We ended up getting tickets in the 300 section, 50 yard line. First game at Gillette Sunday!

This is a strange question is anyone up for letting us crash their tailgate party for a little while? We won’t be able to start our own since we flew in. Will bring beer and good Pats vibes!

There's a thread around here somewhere that has a lot of great advice for visiting fans. I don't have a lot of time but I'll see if I can find it again.

Arialgg said:

I’m will be in Boston over Sept 22nd, and am planning on going to the Jets & Patriots game... I am a NFL live game virgin.

You pros that have tips or wisdom to impart, I’m all ears.

Here are some of my most pertinent questions/concerns:

•Is there certain sites that have better ticket prices than others? They’ve all seemed pretty comparable so far-

•I’m planning on sitting on the Patriots lower sideline, paying $530-$600 per ticket (section 108 or 114 is what I’m deciding between right now)- but every site hits me with extra $130+ fees at checkout...is this ever avoidable?

•We will be staying in downtown Boston- uber-ing & walking everywhere... so for the 25+ miles to Gillette, is the train an Ok idea? Uber?We don’t mind a long ride or leaving early- I’d like some time to see Patriot place before the game.

Any input is appreciated- ( :

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Hey Aria - how was your visit? Hope you had a good time.

I have a few nuggets to add to the 'first time experience" experience that might be of interest to others, so here goes:

1. I tried the new free season ticket holder parking this weekend (delayed exit (75 minutes after the game) required) Lot 55, behind P10, opposite Patriots Place) and found it was a pretty good experience that can be improved upon by me leaving earlier for the game than I did this Sunday. The pros - the parking came as advertised - I downloaded a pass through my season ticket holder account, and once I got through the congestion at the entrance to P10 (see cons), I was directed to a dedicated lane, and parked close to the access road behind P10 in a big grassy area I didn't tailgate, but saw others doing so. I went to Patriots Place after the game (as I often do after a 1:00 p.m. game), got back to the car a few minutes more than 75 minutes after the game, and got right out, even though I was making a left onto Rte. 1. The 1/2 mile distance from the stadium is true, once the state trooper explains that you can't walk up the access road and cross Rte. 1 - you have to cut through one of the paying parking lots and cross with those folks through a dedicated opening/cross walk in the fence. The cons - the entrance to P10, which you have to use to get to Lot 55 is really backed up and congested, or at least it was at 11:00 a.m. when I got there. However, this could be mitigated by me getting there earlier, which usually I would, and by my new knowledge that once I make the turn into the lot I should look for the dedicated lane for Lot 55, which was over to the far left. Also, some signage to help with both the dedicated lane, and the fact that you have to cut through a different parking lot to cross Rte. 1 would have been helpful. All in all, we thought it was a good deal, particularly for a 1:00 p.m. game. Not sure if I would use it for a later afternoon game, and probably not a night game. Tune and Joker you should check it out.

2. Two thumbs down for the Scorpion Bar (Mexican restaurant) in Patriots Place, where I tried to go after the game. First they wouldn't let me in because I forgot my ID (I'm a 55 year old mother of 4 and look it), and even though I wanted dinner and not to go to their stupid bar. Then they wouldn't let my 21 year old son in because "he's too young." I said, "he's not too young - look at his age on his ID right in your hand!" whereupon Mr. Cool bouncer said, "I am making a decision not to let him in because he's had too much already." I asked him to repeat himself and then asked if he was joking, as my son had had nothing to drink and was just standing there quietly. He and his "manager" who both looked about as old as my son, basically told us to get lost, and said, "you can go to another bar if you want." Damn straight. We went to Davios, where the bouncer opened the door for us, and had a lovely meal without the BS of that place. DON'T GO THERE. Asshats. Nice customer service.

@PatsDeb , don’t blame the restaurant just because you look like a hot 20-something.

Patjew said:

@PatsDeb , don’t blame the restaurant just because you look like a hot 20-something.

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In my mind, I agree, but then all illusion fades when I look in the mirror

1960Pats said:

There's a thread around here somewhere that has a lot of great advice for visiting fans. I don't have a lot of time but I'll see if I can find it again.

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@Ian should make some "First time Gillette visitor" sticky if there isn't already one somewhere.

PatsDeb said:

In my mind, I agree, but then all illusion fades when I look in the mirror

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I disagree but don’t want to give a “disagree.”