While it will take time for plans to be realized, New England Revolution still appears to be targeting a future Boston soccer-specific stadium project.
The Revolution currently play at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, shared with the NFL’s Patriots. The Kraft family, which controls the Revolution and the Patriots, has previously made efforts to move the MLS club out of Gillette Stadium and into a smaller, soccer-specific venue somewhere in the Boston area.
However, that push has come up short thus far. One of the most high-profile efforts of late, the pursuit of a new stadium at the site of the former Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester, fell through last year when negotiations ended. Speculation over a new Boston soccer-specific stadium surfaced recently, when Jorge Mas–an investor in the group backing a Miami MLS expansion club–suggested to the Miami Herald that the Revolution was working on plans for a soccer-specific stadium near TD Garden, the home of the NBA’s Celtics and NHL’s Bruins.
Boston officials indicated at the time that they had not received a plan from the Krafts, and a spokesman for the Kraft family recently indicated that there is no new information regarding a stadium. However, a new soccer-specific stadium remains a goal for the Krafts, and Jonathan Kraft has expressed confidence the Revolution will eventually have its own home. More from The Boston Globe:
A spokesman for the family shot down the Miami report, saying there’s no news on the stadium front, and a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh said city officials haven’t met with the Krafts about a stadium in more than a year….
There have been glimmers of hope for fans of the local team that they, too, might one day have a stadium to call their own. Last fall, Revolution co-owner Jonathan Kraft said the organization was “as optimistic as we’ve ever been” about securing a Boston site for a stadium. Wednesday, following Mas’s comment, Kraft told radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub he was confident the team and the Walsh administration could, finally, pull off the project.
“We really have been working very diligently on it,” said Kraft, who through a spokesman declined an interview request from the Globe. “We will get the stadium done.”
Land has generally been at a premium in Boston, which has contributed in part to the difficulties in finding a suitable site for a new soccer-specific stadium. The Revolution has played at Gillette Stadium since its opening in 2002, after playing the 1996-2001 seasons at its predecessor, Foxboro Stadium.
Image, which reflects previous Dorchester stadium plan, courtesy New England Revolution.
RELATED STORIES: New New England Revolution Stadium on Tap?; Boston Soccer-Specific Stadium For Revolution Still Discussed; With Dorchester Dead, Krafts Mull New England Revolution Stadium Locations; New England Revolution Stadium Discussions Cease; New England Revolution Hit Roadblock in Stadium Talks; Baker Open to New England Revolution Stadium; Boston Mayor Expresses Traffic Concerns about Bayside Site; Revolution Began Bayside Pitch Last Fall; Bayside Expo Center Emerges as Potential Site for New England Revolution Stadium; Krafts bring in Goldman Sachs on new Boston MLS stadium plan; New Boston MLS stadium talk heating up again; New Revolution stadium in motion?; South Boston site eyed for new Rev stadium; After Revolution uprising, will we see soccer-only stadium in Boston?