Foxboro Stadium Foxboro Stadium ( originally Schaefer Stadium , formerly Sullivan Stadium , commonly Foxborough Stadium ) was an outdoor stadium , located in Foxborough , Massachusetts . Although the official spelling of the town ' s name is " Foxborough " , the shorter spelling was used for the stadium . History . The stadium opened in August 1971 as Schaefer Stadium , primarily as the home venue for the renamed New England Patriots of the National Football League . The team was known as the Boston Patriots for its first eleven seasons 1960 - 70 , and had played in various stadiums in the Boston area . For six seasons , 1963 - 68 , the Patriots played in the venerable Fenway Park , home of baseball ' s Boston Red Sox . Fenway was poorly suited as a football venue and also had inadequate seating capacity 33 , 000 for baseball and only about 40 , 000 seats for football . The Boston Patriots played the 1969 season at Alumni Stadium at Boston College in Chestnut Hill , and the 1970 season at Harvard Stadium in Boston ' s Allston neighborhood . The site was selected when the owners of Bay State Raceway donated the land , midway between Boston and Providence , Rhode Island . Ground was broken in September 1970 , and it was built in less than 11 months at an announced cost of $ 4 , 000 , 000 , ( later determined to be about $ 7 . 1 million , or $ 37 . 5 million in 2007 dollars ) a bargain price , even at the time , for a major sports stadium . This was because the Patriots received no funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the town of Foxborough . Because of this , and also the era in which it was designed and built , it had very few amenities — the type that became commonplace at football stadiums in the 1990s — such as individual seating , " club seats " , luxury suites , and deluxe locker rooms for the teams . During Kiam ' s ownership of the Patriots , ESPN anchor Chris Berman humorously referred to the facility as " Shaver Stadium " , lampooning Kiam ' s ownership of Remington Razors . Playing surface . Like the majority of outdoor sports venues built in North America in the 1970s , Foxboro Stadium was designed for the use of an artificial turf playing surface . The original field was Poly - Turf , succeeded by AstroTurf . Artificial turf fell out of favor in the 1990s , due to the supposed higher rate of injuries resulting from play on the artificial surface . A natural grass field was installed before the start of the 1991 season , as it was at many other facilities . At Foxboro Stadium the replacement grass field never seemed to drain properly , resulting in the playing surface often becoming a quagmire during wet playing conditions Naming rights . The original name in 1971 was Schaefer Stadium for the brewery of that name in an early example of the sale of naming rights . When this agreement expired in 1983 , Anheuser - Busch took over the rights , but instead of putting the name of one of its brands of beer on the stadium , agreed to name it Sullivan Stadium in honor of the Sullivan family , majority owners of the Patriots . After the family sold their majority interest in the team to Victor Kiam , the stadium was officially renamed " Foxboro Stadium . " Notable events . The venue hosted numerous significant soccer matches , including six games in the 1994 FIFA World Cup , five in the 1999 FIFA Women ' s World Cup , the 1996 and 1999 MLS Cup s , the inaugural Founders Cup . The stadium also served as the venue at times for the home football games of Boston College and hosted numerous other outdoor events , primarily concerts , along with music festivals , including The Monsters of Rock Festival Tour and The Vans Warped Tour , as well as the WWF King of the Ring tournament in 1985 and 1986 . Metallica and Guns N ' Roses brought their co - headlining Guns N ' Roses / Metallica Stadium Tour to the venue on September 11 , 1992 , with Faith No More as their opening act . Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead recorded a portion of their collaborative live album , entitled " Dylan & the Dead " , here on July 4 , 1987 . Pink Floyd played a two night stand in May 1988 ( one of the nights saw their inflatable pig being torn to shreds ) . Then played a three night sold out stand in May 1994 on their The Division Bell Tour which were recorded and readily available on bootleg ( night number 2 was filmed by MTV for promotional purposes ) . Closing . By the late 1990s Foxboro Stadium had become functionally obsolete by modern NFL standards . The facility was built cheaply as a " bare bones " stadium and had very few modern amenities . It also lacked luxury boxes , a major source of revenue for other teams in the league , and most patrons had to sit on backless aluminum benches as only a small fraction of the stadium had actual seats ( painted blue , red , and white near the 50 - yard line ) . With a capacity of just over 60 , 000 , it was one of the smallest stadiums in the NFL . After 31 NFL seasons , Foxboro Stadium was demolished in January 2002 , after the conclusion of the 2001 season ( in which the Patriots won their first Super Bowl ) . The last game played in the stadium — " The Tuck Rule Game " — was played in a snow storm ; a Patriots win against the Oakland Raiders , which famously featured an overturned fumble call based on the tuck rule in the final minutes . The stadium ' s former site became the parking lots of its successor , Gillette Stadium , before being developed into the open - air shopping center Patriot Place .