{"id":2265496,"date":"2026-02-03T22:29:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2265496"},"modified":"2026-02-03T22:29:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:29:43","slug":"meet-the-mainer-who-oversees-new-england-patriots-game-day-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/meet-the-mainer-who-oversees-new-england-patriots-game-day-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Mainer who oversees New England Patriots game day entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Abbey Thistle poses with Super Bowl rings at Gillette Stadium. Thistle, a Cape Elizabeth native, is the senior director of event presentation and fan engagement for the New England Patriots. (Photo courtesy of the New England Patriots)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Say you\u2019re at a New England Patriots game, and you get fired up by the song playing over the loudspeakers. Or you get drawn in by a hype video playing on the scoreboard. Or you\u2019re at a team party and your favorite former player shows up.<\/p>\n

In each case, it\u2019s the same person making it happen. Cape Elizabeth native Abbey Thistle is the senior director of event presentation and fan engagement for the New England Patriots, which means it\u2019s her job to manage the game-day atmosphere at Gillette Stadium, connect with former players and oversee the team\u2019s fan-facing events.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s had the job since 2013, and it\u2019s taken her everywhere from watch parties to NFL drafts to the Super Bowl. She is on a first-name basis with some of the best players in Patriots history, including Tom Brady.<\/p>\n

Twelve years later, Thistle says she still gets a jolt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a rally out in Denver (for the AFC championship game), and we had like 1,800 people show up. I just remember sitting there going \u2018Holy crap. This is still really cool,’\u201d said Thistle, 47, who now lives in Pelham, New Hampshire. \u201cWe had Adam Vinatieri there and David Andrews and Logan Ryan, and all these fans. It was so amazing. I do still have those moments of \u2018Yeah, I love this.’\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a job Thistle envisioned, however. A sports fan growing up, Thistle (nee Thelin) graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School and went to the University of Delaware to study history and English, but wanted a career in a different field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played sports and I loved watching with my dad, so I thought \u2018Hey, let\u2019s see about working in sports,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Abbey Thistle stands at the NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in 2018. Thistle, a Cape Elizabeth native, is the senior director of event presentation and fan engagement for the New England Patriots. (Photo courtesy of the New England Patriots)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thistle got her master\u2019s in sports management at the University of Denver in 2005, which led first to an internship with the Denver Broncos from 2003-07, followed by a job with the Worcester Sharks in the American Hockey League until 2011. She then worked for the Boston Red Sox until 2013 before joining the Patriots organization.<\/p>\n

The jobs were game presentation. Again, a fortunate misdirection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I interviewed for the internship with the Broncos, I was told by my adviser at school that it was in the communications department, so I just assumed PR or marketing,\u201d she said. \u201cI had no idea that this sort of level of fan engagement existed. But once I started \u2026 I was like \u2018Nope, this is it, this is what I want to do.’\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Patriots, Thistle coordinates all aspects of the in-game entertainment. She oversees the songs that get played, the videos that get shown, the games for fans that pop up on the scoreboard, and any pregame or halftime ceremonies, directing the sequences like the conductor of an orchestra.<\/p>\n

When a pump-up song gets played, it\u2019s the result of a strategic discussion on when to use it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to walk through those situations,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talk through \u2018We know we have this in our arsenal, we know this is going to be a big moment, when is that time to pull the trigger to create that big moment?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Around seven or eight years ago, however, her role expanded to include fan engagement. Now she coordinates fan outreach, mascot and cheerleader showings, as well as draft and watch parties. She also helps organize all events involving former players.<\/p>\n

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Abbey Thistle stands with former New England Patriots cornerback Ty Law at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 18. Thistle, a Cape Elizabeth native, is the team\u2019s senior director of event presentation and fan engagement. (Photo courtesy of the New England Patriots)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whenever a player returns to ring the bell at the lighthouse at Gillette Stadium? Thistle sets it up. She was also part of the team that pitched the three-year-old custom, which is an anticipated part of every home game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ended up taking off,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we really nailed (it).\u201d<\/p>\n

Wearing all those hats has put a lifelong Patriots fan into some memorable encounters, where she\u2019s been on the phone or stood shoulder to shoulder with some of the most celebrated players the team has had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a few moments like that,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I first started doing all of this, (seeing) Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy, these were the guys. I don\u2019t get that way anymore, just because I\u2019ve done it for so long and I\u2019ve kind of known them now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, there was one exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most star-struck I\u2019ve ever been was (Jon) Bon Jovi,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen we had him do the bell, that was my childhood growing up. That was the one and only time I was like \u2018I want to be up there.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Her favorite moments, though, have been seeing the feedback from the fans about her work, whether it\u2019s dozens of people at a fan event, or 68,000 strong at a game. When the right song is played, or the right video is shown, there can be a surge in the energy of the crowd that she can feel up in the box.<\/p>\n

One example was the 2014 AFC divisional round game against the Ravens, a dramatic 35-31 New England victory. In the fourth quarter, the fans sang along with The Outfield\u2019s \u201cYour Love,\u201d their voices bellowing in the 8-degree wind chill. When the song was interrupted and restarted following an official\u2019s announcement, the fans picked it back up.<\/p>\n

More than a decade later, in the win over Houston on Jan. 18, Thistle saw that kind of reaction again when the fans sang along to Bon Jovi\u2019s \u201cLivin\u2019 on a Prayer.\u201d As the Patriots have returned to the front of the league this year, a moment like that told Thistle the team, and its fans, were back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe press box was shaking. We haven\u2019t had those press box shaking moments in so long,\u201d she said. \u201cThose are those moments that will stick with me forever. \u2026 I love being able to be a part of that, and to affect how the fans experience the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pressherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abbey Thistle poses with Super Bowl rings at Gillette Stadium. Thistle, a Cape Elizabeth native, is the senior director of event presentation and fan engagement for the New England Patriots. (Photo courtesy of the New England Patriots) Say you\u2019re at a New England Patriots game, and you get fired up by the song playing over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2265497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2265496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Meet-the-Mainer-who-oversees-New-England-Patriots-game-day.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2265496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2265498,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265496\/revisions\/2265498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2265497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2265496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2265496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2265496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}