Why the Grass Is Always Greener at Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium

The New England Patriots, formerly the Boston Patriots, have played on many different surfaces since becoming a National Football League franchise. Since the 2006 season, Foxboro's Gillette Stadium sports a FieldTurf surface.

Sports Field Management (SFM) reported in April 2024, "Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL's New England Patriots and the MLS' New England Revolution, recently completed the installation of a new FieldTurf Core system with multi-layer dual-polymer monofilament fiber."

SFM stated, "Gillette Stadium first installed a FieldTurf surface during the 2006 season." It is the 19th consecutive season Gillette Stadium has featured FieldTurf's top surfaces.

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The Patriots and four other teams use FieldTurf, including the Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts.

Before 2006, the Patriots played home games on natural grass.

Boston's WBZ-TV Channel 4 reported team owner Robert Kraft's decision to switch from natural grass to an artificial surface followed "a loss to the Jets on a muddy day in November 2006." The station said Kraft has offered to switch back to grass to help the stadium land a World Cup match.

Before Gillette Stadium opened on May 11, 2002, the New England Patriots played home games at Foxboro Stadium, originally Schaefer Stadium and later Sullivan Stadium. Foxboro Stadium opened in 1971.

Like many outdoor stadiums in the 1970s, Foxboro Stadium had an artificial surface. According to Sports Illustrated, the original field was Poly-Turf. Astro-Turf, often blamed for player injuries, was installed to replace the Poly-Turf surface.

The Astro-Turf surface was replaced by natural grass before the start of the 1991 season.