FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Tailgaters to New England Patriots football games will be able to throw on the grill official Pats hot dogs, bratwurst and sausages, with names such as “Patriots First Down Beef Frank” and “Patriots Sack Attack Mild Italian Sausage.”

Team officials said they are getting into the meat business because of the sport’s long association with tailgating, and tailgating’s association with grilling.

“It’s the social nature of football,” said Murray Kohl, head of sales for the Patriots, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. “It’s bringing groups together. Food seems to be an important part.”

Starting this week at Gillette, fans will be able to purchase the meats, complete with the NFL team’s logo on the package. Altogether, the Patriots are marketing nine “Gridiron Grillers” meats – four lines of bratwurst, three of sausage and two of hot dogs.

Pats officials said the meats will be available in grocery stores by early September.

The supplier is Klement Sausage Co. of Wisconsin, which will pay the Patriots royalties once a minimum number of hot dogs are sold.

The Patriots told The Boston Globe they also are mulling Pats hamburgers and chicken wings, and Patriots barbecue sauce, ketchup and mustard.

Red Sox fans have Fenway Franks, and NASCAR last year launched a line of hot dogs, sausages and bologna.

The Patriots, which pack in more than 60,000 fans a game, already sell more than 50,000 pounds of sausages and hot dogs over the course of the season. The Red Sox, whose Fenway Park seats fewer people than Gillette but has many more home games, sell about 152,000 pou8nds of hot dogs per season.

AP-ES-08-08-06 0827EDT