There’s no renderings to speak of, no plans of shovels in the ground. But according to New England Revolution ownership, there is clear intent for a new home for the club “in the Boston area.”
“Eventually we’d like to invest the team up in the Boston area in a new stadium,” Robert Kraft told the Boston Globe in a piece published Friday. “Our current situation in Foxborough is not alighted with the massive growth in the league driven by urban soccer stadiums. What we’ve seen is many of these MLS teams in these cities are now more popular than the traditional big four sports.”
Of the MLS originals, the Revolution are the only club to still play in its original location, although Gillette Stadium replaced the old Foxboro Stadium in 2002. Columbus Crew SC are set to move to a new downtown location next season, FC Dallas have called Toyota Stadium in the Frisco suburbs home since 2005, the New York Red Bulls moved from cavernous Giants Stadium to Red Bull Arena in 2010, similarly Sporting Kansas City left Arrowhead Stadium for Children’s Mercy Park in 2011 — with a brief stop at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in between.
The LA Galaxy set up their base in Carson, California, in 2003 after their origins at the Rose Bowl, the Colorado Rapids also left Mile High Stadium for Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2007 and the rebranded San Jose Clash have had a few home venues, including longtime Cali Claisco site Spartan Stadium, but now have their soccer-specific stadium (Earthquakes Stadium) in San Jose since 2015. D.C. United long called RFK Stadium home before Audi Field was opened in 2018.
And other clubs who have since joined the league, including Orlando City SC, LAFC, FC Cincinnati and expansion sides Nashville SC, Inter Miami CF as well as future clubs in Austin and St. Louis, have either built, or have committed to construct stadiums in the heart of their cities.
While there’s no timetable to speak of for the Revolution’s move out of Gillette into their own stadium, Jonathan Kraft said the building of the Revs $35 million training center behind Gillette Stadium was an important first step to show the Krafts commitment to the MLS originals.
“We want to build the stadium,” Jonathan Kraft told the Boston Globe. “We don’t like failing and we clearly failed at doing that. The training center made a statement.”
