Revolution Stadium Groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part VII

True, but theoretically, you could sign any player in the world and fit him under the cap, because only a prorated 350K is counted against the cap. They could go buy Neymar for 10 gagillion dollars.

 

The game attendance was about 200 more than the mean for the year.

 

Pad those numbers.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...uts-new-york-for-team-to-rival-red-bulls.html

Even a non-existing team is getting a SSS before the Revs.

 

Ha ha ha! We will see an expansion of Patriot place well before a Revs SSS

http://bostonglobe.com/business/201...triot-place/At6SjNzbVuVzUSK7WTCmbJ/story.html

 

Well at least with the above proposal they are leaving the land across Rt ! for a SSS.

 

Honestly, a Foxboro SSS would be a total failure on the part of this organization. I would rather stay in Gillette another 5-10 years while they explore other options than be stuck in an SSS in Foxboro for the next 50. Building in Foxboro accomplishes nothing, you are merely moving 12k fans from one side of the street to the other, the stadium needs to be where the people are and that is Boston. If they build a SSS in Foxboro I give up.

 

This actually could - key word - be a good sign for progress around a SSS announcement. An expansion of Patriot Place means the Krafts may be planning revenue projections less the 12k revs fans on 16 or however many Saturday nights. This expansion means year round revenue that effectively replaces the 'rev fan' revenue stream.

 

On the contrary, I think (read: fear) Soccer Doc is right on the money, the SSS gets built as part of all this other non-sense feeding more money in to the hotels, restaurants, etc. Why build it in Boston where someone else is going to get his dining dollars when he can siphon off their money at any of his multiple properties in Foxboro?

 

This is a fair point but I think Bilello, who has been given the 100m budget and responsibility to get the SSS done would sacrifice his reputation and any goodwill from the supporters if he succumbed and built a cookie cutter SSS in Foxboro. I honestly think if there was going to be one in Foxboro the revs would have announced it by now. Everyone knows they are looking, it would have been so easy to shut everyone up and just build something on property they own, then say "take it or leave it". That to me, is the ultimate white flag. However, I think the aggonizing delay reflects the fact Bilello has a bigger vision for the club and needs the time and resources realistically required for finding and building at a suitable location in the urban core. So that's what my gut says will happen. It's still taking forever but I believe we will have something closer to Boston when all is said and done.

To quote Tom Petty, "the waiting is the hardest part."

 

Well commuter rail service would be nice. I'd support this residential development if that's the result (as suggested in the article)

 

I think that would be the only way that full commuter service would be sent to Foxboro

 

I am led to believe that Seattle's stadium is downtown, the Revs will never regularly attract 35k-40k for stand alone regular season games for a number of reasons, location being one.

 

I agree with what you say in principle---for a BEST OUTCOME we really need an in town stadium. However, with rail service as part of the aforementioned project, a small, intimate SSS with it's own soccer bar and hall of honor would significantly change the game day experience and likely result in an average of 15-18K which wouldn't be much less than what I suspect they would generate in town.----and----the bottom line for me is they NEED a SSS sooner rather than later. If there don't think they can get an in town location in the near term than IMO a Foxboro location wouldn't be the worst option.

 

Agree.

 

The big problem I see with it is that you are likely tied to the site for 30+ years, that is a looong stretch of time, who knows where the league will be in 10, 15, even 20 years. If you get in to Boston-metro and design it right (so it is expandable) you really cover your bases for a strong future. It is such a big, defining moment in the history of the Revolution that I would really hate to see them settle for the second best option here. Or worse, years later realize they went down the wrong path.

 

Aside from "his reputation" of being a hail-fellow-well-met who makes the effort to glad-hand amongst the tailagating crowd from time to time, just what kind of "reputation" does Bilello have to sacrifice?

As the New England Revolution's Chief Operating Officer and President, Bilello has proven himself to be, at best, in woefully over his head. At worst, he's been an abject failure in both positions. He's a glorified retail manager who "yes, sir-ed" himself to a corner office position with a team where not making waves is the primary prerequisite for career advancement. Frankly, the presence of Mike Burns within the Revolution organization is the only thing that grants Bilello the relative peace-of-mind of knowing that he's not the biggest f**k-up collecting a check from the Krafts' MLS franchise.

 

Incidentally, if - as the Globe reports - the Kraft Group and Foxboro officials are successful in their goal of "adding full-time commuter rail service to the property" adjacent to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place, you can stick-a-fork in an urban Metro Boston-based soccer-specific stadium for the Revolution. With full-time commuter rail service running to Foxboro, the best case scenario for a Revs SSS is for such a facility to be built across Route 1 from Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place.

Sorry, but even if full-time commuter rail wouldn't be as convenient as subway service for the masses of soccer-hungry urbanites we theorize would support the Revolution at an urban Metro Boston SSS, the Krafts will argue that a dedicated commuter rail connection to their entertainment complex in Foxboro removes all excuses for currently-disaffected, potential MLS fans in Greater Boston.

Bottom line? Kraft père et fils simply aren't going to bang their heads against the wall - or, spend the dough - necessary to make a soccer-specific stadium work in the urban core if they can build such a facility on commuter rail-serviced land they already own in Foxboro, adjacent to the retail-restaurant-entertainment complex they've already invested heavily in.

 

Well you have a right to be cynical and are certainly entitled to that opinion. I disagree that the Krafts will abandon the urban SSS and go against every grain of logic to build a soccer stadium in Foxboro. It would be an about face from everything Kraft Sr and Jr. and Billelo have said publicly in the past 6 years, which is my point about losing supporter goodwill. I would think the Krafts as businessmen, would see a much greater opportunity in the urban core, but who knows.

But if the Revs do build one in Foxboro, the entitled urbanites will have to quit their whining and board the train to Foxboro, if that's not too much to ask.

 

If you have the commuter rail access to Foxboro, I wonder if they would build a soccer specific stadium at all. Sure, there would be reasons to - smaller, more intimate venue with better atmosphere. Grass fields. Smaller venue for smaller concert events. But the argument could be made that with the full time train access, they'd be better off to try and market the $hit out of the team and try to get Seattle sized crowds to Revs games. They've never been good at marketing the team, but...I don't know. That article made me feel like a Revs SSS is now further from reality than it has ever been.

 

If you picked up Seattle and dropped them 35-40 minutes outside of the city would they still draw 42,666? I think they would still draw well, but the numbers would decrease. This is exacerbated by the layout of MA (small towns like Foxboro) as opposed to cities like Tacoma, WA, which is nearly equidistant from Seattle as Gillette is to Boston.

An SSS with T-accessibility blows commuter rail to Foxboro out of the water and opens up easy access to people north of the city via the commuter rail (Haverhill line, etc). As an aside, if I were to go from Haverhill to Gillette via MBTA it would take 2 hours and 55 minutes one way and cost $38.50 round trip (Pats train from South Station = $15 round trip), getting in to Boston is the easy part (58 minutes).

 

One undiscussed issue that may impact Kraft Soccers decision on WHEN and WHERE to build their promised SSS is the Economic Realities they think will pertain over the next decade. I know I'm not alone in my fears about an impending global economic depression. Kraft may elect to keep his economic powder dry and try to maximize the potential for success of his planned Rt 1 development project by adding a compact SSS across Rt !. When I put all the factors in Context it makes good business sense to me.

 

----and---I think the majority of us who travel to games from outside the city (NH, CT, Maine etc) find travel to Foxboro a lot easier than an in town location. Lets remember, this is the NEW ENGLAND Revoution not the BOSTON Revolution.

 

Not at all, from where I am in NH (pretty close to the MA line) it's about 45-50 minutes in to the city, it's around 1 hour 20 minutes - 1 1/2 hours to Gillette. Many of my friends who are soccer fans and live in the area have also commented that they would go more often but it's just too much of a hike.
Boston also opens up the possibility of taking the commuter line in on the Haverhill line (Haverhill, Lawrence, Andover, Reading), the Lowell line (Lowell, Billerica, Wilmington), the Newburyport/Rockport Line (Gloucester, Newburyport, Rowley, Salem, Lynn) or the Downeaster from NH and points north (Exeter, NH; Durham, NH [UNH]; Dover, NH; Saco, ME; Old Orchard Beach, ME; Portland, ME); see my previous post on the time and cost to do so to Gillette.