The idea of regular train service to Gillette Stadium has actually been explored by the MBTA. Not sure where it currently stands, though.
IIRC, they tried a bus a couple of times, but since they didn't publicize it, ridership was low and they cancelled it after a couple of weeks. If they did it for the whole year and people got used to the idea that they could take a bus from Riverside or Alewife every game, the numbers would pick up over time. But as someone said upthread, if you're going to do it at all, do it right.
I don't understand why the train idea won't fly and why the Krafts can't do anything about it. They run it to Patriots games. Why not Revs games? I don't know what it costs or what the process to get it going would be, but if it can be done for Pats games, it is theoretically possible to do it for Revs games. I understand that it would take time to get it going, whether they did busses or the train, but in my opinion the train would have a far higher likelihood of success than busing would. I don't expect us to ever all of a sudden to become Seattle or Atlanta, but I do truly believe that an all-out, multi-year full court press of putting a team together on the field that had some star power combined with every conceivable attempt to promote the team and drive people to the games as well as giving them a good all-around experience when they are in the stadium could see a significant bump in average crowd sizes, no matter the month. I am tired of this team being dragged along by the rest of the league. I would sell my soul to see them drive the bus instead of being an irritated passenger.
Brian was quoted about the trains awhile back and it basically comes down to numbers, both in volume of riders and demand. I believe he said it would take 800 fans/train to break even. Pats games have no problem filling that given 68k go to those games. However, if the revs only draw 20k / game and there isn't enough marketing as it is, it becomes tougher to make a case there's enough demand for the train to make it worthwhile. I know they've tried buses from Boston in the past, with little success. Until there is more organic demand in Boston or the Revs are willing to try another approach, that won't change.
Also, unless things have changed, that track isn't meant for commuter trains. They have to change things for those 10 Pats games a year.
Kraft has been trying to get the MBTA to add regular train service - and I think it is in the works (and has drawn some criticism). IMO there are enough businesses (i.e., jobs) that justify it (helping urban workers get to suburban jobs). ------ Monty, have the Revs ever approached the Riders about working together on a sustained game-day bus plan? [sorry if that's an incredibly naive question ]
I can tell you why I won't take it even though I'm the target fan for this type of service. I can see a T line from my front door and I prefer public transit to driving. Yet it's a two-hour trip. I've got to make a transfer just to get to South Station, and every extra train you take adds a new point of failure. It's one thing to try to get downtown with the MBTA's recent chaos when that's your destination. If you're trying to make a connector to a train where you're screwed if you miss it, completely different story. And then I'm paying more for the round trip on the train than I am for my game ticket. Or I can just take the car and park for free.
I agree, it's absurd, especially from somewhere like Davis Sq or JP. It's designed for urban people with no cars (and apparently no friends with cars).
One-off things - done intermittently, or in isolation - will face challenges. The team would need to think big, and fire on multiple cylinders for an extended period of time in order to allow any one individual effort (like the train thing) to succeed. If the teams' talent acquisition apparatus is ineffective, that leads to a team struggling to win against some of the worst in the league - and at the same time, now matter how well funded, a train won't get filled. (That's just an example - I'm not saying that the on-field results alone determines the feasibility of a train - there are many variables.) With the Revs, there are all sorts of those cause-effects, but addressing them one at a time as opposed to in unison, holistically, seems to me a less likely scenario for success. The entire tide needs to made to rise for any one boat to ascend. I am always open to being pleasantly surprised. I would love to see a rising tide across the board. But, I do not suspect it will happen, based on history and on the current decision makers in place for this team.
The other way around ... and a lot. I did it many times with the Revs, and my request was also that we should make sure to keep doing it. Don't do a one-off (from Riverside for example) if 5 people show up. Make it a habit. Make people comfortable with it, and yes, you might lose money for a bit, but in the long-run it'll pay off. The "lose money for a bit" was the only part they paid attention to so the bus never really happened. Now the Riders offer a bus from Boston to a few games themselves (no help from the Revs) coming from Boston.
Until Ebeneezer Kraft has a total and complete 180-degree turnaround in his philosophy of how he chooses to operate his other team, nothing at all will change.
I think the mistake the team (not the Riders) has made in the past is to offer those in the spring. It should be in the fall. What needs to happen is the revs need to offer a bus to the game from each of the major Boston area schools. BU, BC, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern. They should do a special deal, like the road trip to NYRB where it's a student-only $20/ticket+transportation. If they make a concerted effort to run buses for each home game during Sept/Oct (call it 4 home games), it will showcase the team during the playoff push, during the most well attended part of the season (its a little psychological trick, people want to be part of something that other people like). As an added bean counter benefit, the Revs are pushing for STH sales that type of year so they can potentially get students to buy a package. Some quick math + say the revs allocate $15k from their marketing budget to cover the bus campaign. That works out to $3k/campus x 5 major Boston campuses. If the cost per 55 passenger bus is about $750 for a 5 hour rental (my source is Google but work with me), if they fill all 55 seats@$20/head, they're looking at $1100, a $350 profit. Run each bus from each campus to 4 home games in September/October. Spend that extra on making it a fun experience- give free scarves to anyone who answers a revs trivia question correctly(or something like that). Encourage them to tag themselves and their friends and take selfies at the game. Make it a little competition to see which school has the most revs fans by dedicating a hashtag for each school (#mitrevs). Sure, it seems gimmicky but if even only a handful of students become longer term fans, they are more likely to buy a ticket package, revs gear and tell their friends. Over time, it would increase the LTV per customer. Sure, there's always risk - they may not fill the bus all 4 games x 5 campuses. Homecoming weekend may mean no one goes to the revs game. However, strategically speaking, it's about exposing prospective fans to the entire revs experience. The key is the willingness to take the short term loss for longer term gain. This of course is just a test; the goal is to get the Boston student community excited about the team enough to come back the following season. The FO may even feel more comfortable about spending money towards the end of the year because it's towards the end of the budget cycle and they know there will be good crowds anyway.
All of this discussion is great. I would never suggest they should just say "hey the train is running" and leave it at that. Whether trains, busses or personal jetpacks, anything they do would have to be part of a wider, all-encompassing strategy - on and off the field - to try to raise awareness and interest in the product while also working to make the product much more attractive. They would need to be willing to lose money in the short term in order to have a chance for it to work. That is the issue.
Repped for this. It has to be at least a season-long commitment; you need time for the word of mouth to grow - have a few people try it, then recruit more friends, etc. If they want to target the colleges, have it leave from Kenmore Sq. Any Boston college kid who can't find their way there isn't coming anyway. And, if they want to target the general Boston population, leave from South Station - it's the closest there is a transportation hub. Just commit to running it for every home game for the season - that can't cost more than a few thousand $ - and is surely due to net some revenue back.
Yeah, I asked them about that maybe 10 years ago and CT said the cost of a Greyhound-style bus was high. Who said anything about that? Use an MBTA bus, it's a short trip--it's not like you're going to Noo-Freakin-Yawk!