The Patriots and Putnam Investments yesterday unveiled Gillette Stadium's "upgraded, plugged-in and plush luxury clubhouse renovations," according to Greg Turner of the BOSTON HERALD. The Boston-based financial services firm has turned the two 3,000-seat sections at Gillette Stadium "into a posh sports marketing playground called the Putnam Club." Under a new corporate sponsorship, Putnam's "game plan is heavy on social media interaction, dazzling video displays and better views of the field for well-heeled football fans watching from behind the glass." The Putnam Club improvements "range from basic upgrades, such as fresh carpeting and switching the color scheme from Fidelity green to Putnam blue, to renovations that included removing fireplace seating areas and coaches’ booths to make room for more dining areas overlooking the gridiron." Outside Gillette Stadium, Putnam is "installing massive video screens above the club entrances to display tailgating fans’ Twitter messages, and painting Quick Response codes directly onto the VIP parking lots." The QR code designs "will connect smartphones to videos on Pats history, fan polls and other social media features" (BOSTON HERALD, 8/31).
ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM? The AP's Howard Ulman reported while most of Foxboro "remains without power from Tropical Storm Irene, service is back at Gillette Stadium." The Patriots' final preseason game is scheduled for tomorrow night, but National Grid spokesperson Jackie Barry, whose power company serves the town, said that it "was 'absolutely not' true the team received special treatment." The Patriots "had internal discussions about how to handle the game against the New York Giants if power was not restored, but no decision was made before the lights went back on." National Grid indicated that as of late yesterday afternoon, 7,287 of 7,820 customers in Foxboro "still had no power because of damage from Sunday's storm" (AP, 8/30). Gillette Stadium got power back Monday, but Patriots Senior VP/Operations, Administration & Finance James Nolan said that "none of that power came from the Foxboro substation that serves the rest of the town." Nolan added that the team "spent millions of dollars" building the stadium to ensure it would have backup power "after suffering a blackout during the 1996 AFC championship game" in the old Foxboro Stadium (FOXBORO REPORTER, 8/31).
