By Zachary Baru
From music, to soccer, to football, Gillette Stadium covered it all this past weekend, entertaining more than 146,000 fans to three separate events in three busy nights.
The weekend began with an Ed Sheeran concert that packed Gillette with a crowd of more than 52,000 fans. The show was Sheeran's largest U.S. concert to date, two years after opening for Taylor Swift in the same venue.
Following the game, the specially designed stage and floor seating had to be broken down for a Revolution game the next night against the Philadelphia Union. The crew worked overnight to ensure the stadium was set for soccer, which would be only the first of two sporting events in two nights.
The Revolution game drew 25,885 fans, another big crowd for the Revs, which also drew 18,854 on Saturday, September 5 against Orlando City. As the Revs continue to play good soccer, the New England fans continue to respond at the gate.
After the Revolution game on Saturday evening, the Gillette Stadium crew continued to work overnight in preparation for Sunday's Patriots game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sunday's Patriots game, like all Patriots games since the Kraft family purchased the franchise in 1994, was sold out with a crowd of 68,756 fans.
This brought the total number of fans attending events at Gillete Stadium over the weekend to over 146,000. With a hotel, various upscale and casual dinning restaurants and bars, The Hall at Patriot Place, an upscale movie theater, concert venue, retail shops, and of course a first-class stadium, Patriot Place is one of the few lifestyle and entertainment centers across the country that can successfully and appropriately accommodate three large events in three nights. Still, that must have been lot of spring rolls to serve at Davio's over the weekend.
Zach Baru can be followed on Twitter @zbaru and reached at zachbaru@gmail.com.
Source: The Boston Globe, Major League Soccer
