{"id":683452,"date":"2026-01-17T04:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683452\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T04:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T04:56:23","slug":"patriots-playoff-run-a-game-changer-for-massachusetts-economy-christmas-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683452\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots playoff run a game-changer for Massachusetts economy: ‘Christmas in January’"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Patriots keep on winning, Foxboro-area businesses are reaping in the team\u2019s success with a boost in productivity they haven\u2019t felt since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick made Gillette Stadium the place to be in January.<\/p>\n

Excitement is back at Patriot Place and in the surrounding suburbs after Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel spearheaded an impressive turnaround on the gridiron, resulting in significant gains for area business leaders.<\/p>\n

Through the first half of January at Patriot Place, traffic has already spiked 20%, an increase that Vice President and General Manager Brian Earley says will continue to get better, \u201cGod willing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Renaissance and Hilton Garden Inn, Patriot Place\u2019s two hotels, are sold out this weekend for New England\u2019s Divisional clash against Houston on Sunday, Earley said.<\/p>\n

As soon as the Patriots started to look strong earlier in the season, he added, all 600 rooms at each home game became completely booked, and the trend has continued into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Restaurants are also seeing a \u201ctremendous\u201d uptick in traffic. Patriot Place has gained 21 new businesses since the Patriots last had a sustainable playoff run seven years ago, when New England won its sixth Super Bowl with Brady and Belichick in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re back in terms of the buzz around the team and what that means to Patriot Place in terms of business,\u201d Earley told the Herald, \u201cand it is palpable here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have \u2018Christmas in January\u2019 because of these extra games,\u201d the shopping center\u2019s VP and GM added. \u201cIt can\u2019t be more fun, and we kind of have forgotten how fun it was seven years ago, but it really is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around noontime on Friday, a healthy stream of Patriots fans could be seen trickling into the team\u2019s ProShop and Hall of Fame, wearing team apparel and looking to stock up on the newest, coolest merchandise.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been that way, no matter the day of the week, Earley said. \u201cAll you see here is Patriots gear, he said, \u201cand we\u2019ve missed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Parks, general manager at The Harp, has worked at Patriot Place for the past four and a half years. January and February in the past were the slowest months, with nothing to attract patrons to the sports bar in the winter\u2019s bitter cold.<\/p>\n

That has all changed, now. \u201cNobody saw this coming,\u201d Parks told the Herald. \u201cWe don\u2019t really have any slow weeks, which is great. Our weekends are crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Harp, overlooking Gillette, hosts Patriots All Access and WBZ\u2019s pre- and postgame shows, attracting players\u2019 families and passionate fans on gamedays, Parks said. The sports bar is bumping even on non-gamedays, with watch parties of games that have a direct impact on New England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe excitement is definitely in the air,\u201d Parks said, \u201cand our patio is definitely the place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

About a half mile away at the opposite end of Patriot Place, Catalina Snape is seeing a record turnout at Six String Grill & Stage. The establishment achieved its highest attendance to date last Sunday for the Patriots\u2019 16-3 Wild Card win over the Chargers, the general manager told the Herald.<\/p>\n

WEEI broadcasts pregame and postgame shows from Six String. The business already has plans in place for a Super Bowl watch party, regardless of whether the Patriots make it that far or not, Snape said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe managers who have been here since the start of Six Strings are explaining to me how game days usually go, \u2018Oh, you might get a little push. It might be like some people filtering in throughout the day,\u201d Snape said, \u201cbut it\u2019s never been what they\u2019ve seen these last few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eateries outside of Patriot Place are also thriving.<\/p>\n

About eight miles down the road, Jimmy\u2019s Pub & Restaurant in Mansfield is staying open later than its normal closing hours because of the team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

George Pantos, who has owned the joint for 46 years, frequently advertises showing Patriots games on the restaurant\u2019s social media pages. If the team wins again this week and advances to the AFC Championship, Jimmy\u2019s will be open until midnight, four hours past its normal Sunday closing of 8 p.m., Pantos said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the Patriots involved is like a bright star,\u201d he told the Herald Friday morning, wearing a gray team hoodie and red hat. \u201cThey\u2019re back, they\u2019re exciting. People learned from the past few years how bad it is when your team is bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The long-time restaurateur, who has gone to three Patriots Super Bowls, added that Maye and Vrabel have sparked a different vibe in how fans want to watch the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, \u2018OK, here we go again.\u2019 And people had bought their 80-inch TVs and their entertainment rooms at home,\u201d Pantos said, reminiscing. \u201cBut you missed the number one thing: Everybody around you. (It) adds more excitement to the game than when you\u2019re home with a couple of friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business is booming in Boston. Nick Moniz, general manager of Banners Kitchen and Tap, next to the TD Garden, said the playoff run has had an \u201cincredible positive impact\u201d on his establishment, which boasts the largest viewing screen in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe excitement has already driven a significant increase in demand for reservations,\u201d Moniz said, \u201cespecially with the Super Bowl approaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just four miles from Gillette, Mark McAuliffe, owner of Tessie\u2019s Bar & Kitchen in Walpole, is taking pride in how his eatery has become a hotspot for fans and players themselves.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Jaylinn Hawkins regularly appears at the restaurant, most recently visiting on Monday, the same day that rookie offensive lineman Jared Wilson stopped by. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a buzz around town that we\u2019re in the playoffs,\u201d McAuliffe said.<\/p>\n

McAuliffe, who has owned Tessie\u2019s since 2019, estimated his eatery is seeing a 20% increase in revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely increased business,\u201d McAuliffe told the Herald on Thursday, \u201cand it\u2019s definitely brought people in Walpole together. It\u2019s a huge impact for the staff because they\u2019re making more tips, and they\u2019re getting more tables during the daytime, especially around the games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrianBrian Earley, VP Patriot Place. (Photo By Matt Stone\/Boston Herald).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Patriots keep on winning, Foxboro-area businesses are reaping in the team\u2019s success with a boost in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[833,7,99872,18106,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,99868,99871,208,99870,99869,99873],"class_list":["post-683452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-drake-maye","tag-football","tag-foxboro-restaurants","tag-gillette-stadium","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriot-place","tag-patriot-place-restaurants","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-food","tag-patriots-texans","tag-where-to-eat-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115908667739570005","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}