Wait - you gave me a pop quiz and I obliged and listed 4 reasons - - and then you respond with THAT?
But there it is, right there in your moving the goalposts response!!! I haven’t heard that kind of thing since Tom Finneran.
There’s the thinking!!!!! An unprecedented 6 Super Bowls for a franchise and region that never had one before him….a privately funded state of the art stadium on freaking Route 1 in Foxboro…..the only team in the NFL (aside from the publicly owned Packers) that didn’t soak its fans for Private Seats Licenses. And now the Gift Horse arrives again to offer a privately funded state of the art 25,000 stadium while privately paying the tab the state was facing for cleaning up the Brownfields on a part of the Mystic Riverfront and thus flipping the switch on a new economic dynamism.
Go ahead and- trade the ownership of the New England Patriots and their track record for the ownership and community stewartdship for what we have already seen of the Boston Legacy FC ownership over their first 18 months. That’s the recipe for success!
It is gradually shrinking, but that trope of Tom Finneran curmudgeon thinking,always looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth, is endemic to the area. It’s part of the character, and historically, has held greater Boston down. But things are changing - the Big Dig DID eventually get built and has benefited Boston’s economy and competitive standing (even more Important today, with a President hellbent on destroying Boston’s economy) despite the naysayers - and ironically, Mayor Wu (who I think is overall excellent for the City) is part of that change away from that mentality.
Keep looking Gift Horses in the Mouth. I’m done posting about this for now - we’re going in circles at this time and are at the point of diminishing returns. But this development will be (sadly) interesting to watch - I hope the fallout for the City and the Franchise will be as minimal as possible. As the Old Zen Master said “We’ll see”.
If both teams were owned by Kraft it would make sense for both to play in that stadium, but they are separate owners with competing interests. Having your own stadium has been shown to be the greatest marker for investor success in modern American soccer, hence why you are seeing so many new ones pop up around the country rather than trying to fit into existing wrong-sized stadiums. The legacy is already reluctantly playing their first season in Foxboro. They are paying a lot of rent, they have limited sponsorship and revenue opportunities, and the vast amount of empty seats at Gillette will look bad even if they draw 15,000 a game (which is unlikely, I think they'll draw worse being so far from the city just like every other soccer stadium in the US). They are going to want to separate from Kraft as soon as they possibly can. Not to mention that having their own stadium gives them a lot more leverage against Kraft further down the road if they decide it's worth it to entertain moving to the Everett stadium.
There's a lot to speculate on with these private million/billion dollar discussions. To what extent was Kraft involved/supportive in the discussions for the new NWSL team and where their new home would be? None of us know that (although we can assume that the conversation was hostile given Josh Kraft ran on killing the White Stadium plan) and it's too early to say whether it's going to be maximally successful for either of party. If all goes to plan from the public perspective we're looking at two new fantastic sports teams in the city, a cleaned up industrial area (with a waterfront park), a massive discount on a world-class public facility for every child in Boston, significant investment into our largest public park which has been historically underfunded, and maybe more on the Kraft end as we near arbitration. As far as stadium deals go, this is shaping up to bring a lot of public benefit for relatively minimal public investment.
We can look at the larger trends in American professional soccer for business decisions
1.
Right-sized, "Main Event" stadiums - I really don't think 11,000 is undersized. Only 6 of 14 NWSL teams average more than that. In the one case where you could claim that the stadium might be "undersized", KC Current capped their attendance at 11,500 for their new stadium and selling out consistently has been a wildly successful way to build buzz, atmosphere, and drive up high-end ticket and merch sales.
Forbes estimates that they are the second most valuable team in the league despite being one of the smallest markets, a big reason why is that they are the only team with a purpose built stadium in the league. 11,000 in an 11,000 seat stadium where you control revenue/sponsorship is much better than 15,000 in a 25,000 seat stadium that you don't.
2.
Mixed-use development around/close to the stadium - Not optimal, but not nothing. White Stadium is obviously immediately surrounded by the park, but to say that there is nothing to do in the surrounding area is ill-informed. Most notably "Boston's home for women's sports", Drawdown Brewery (9 minute walk) and Sam Adams Brewery (Ula Cafe and The Haven Restaurant in the same complex, 12 minutes walk). There are restaurants and more development coming in the next few years up and down Washington St. (Plan JP/ROX developments coming up now, 8-15 minute walk), Egleston Square (Dominican food, Squares and Streets Neighborhood, 6 minute walk), and developments planned but stalled around Green St. station (Evergreen Eatery is very popular as well, 15 minute walk).
Personal anecdote: I went to watch the Boston Half-Marathon in Franklin Park this Fall (easily 10,000 people concentrated around the finish line by White Stadium), Ula Cafe in the Sam Adams complex afterwards was packed. The local businesses and economy will see a lot of customers on gamedays, and future developments/shops/ restaurants will be oriented to the gravity of the new stadium. It's not a brand new neighborhood like these stadiums are often marketed as, but the existing neighborhood is pretty cool. Maybe I'm a little biased but it's a great area to spend the day no matter your age.
This is my estimation for developable parcels around the stadium. Some of these are already underway, some of these are entirely speculative.
If white suburban families are scared of JP, well they're not going to bring their kids into Encore to gamble or walk 15 minutes through power substations and future battery plants to get to the Davis Co. developments either. There is more available space for development in the long run, great existing shopping and food at Assembly (15 minutes once the bridge is built) and you can speculate on future developments across the bridge at Sullivan Square (15 minutes), maybe they can develop and relocate the MBTA Shops behind Encore, maybe they'll develop Gateway Center so it's walkable. So high upside long term, but short term I think most people coming to these games are more likely to spend time around Egleston Square and JP than the Everett industrial area.
3.
As close to the city center as possible - Everett is closer, but not in a super meaningful way. They are the same in terms of actually getting there, transit and car access. Both 15-20 minutes from the orange line (the best line for CR transfers to the suburbs), great bus access (will be the case with SLX and BHA bus lanes), and no car access. If you are doing car drop off, there are more ways to get to Franklin Park and therefore less concentrated traffic (not to mention half as many people at games) surrounding the stadium. A CR infill right alongside Encore (10 minute walk) seems unlikely compared to one at Sweetser Circle (20 minute walk, much closer to the population centers in Everett). So you're going to have to do some walking.
