Revolution Stadium Groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part XVI

Allow me to play the "devil's advocate".

There are those who will argue that the return on investment to both the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts for funding infrastructure improvements in the Seaport District that support development such as hotels hosting attendees of events at the convention center, office space for corporations, and housing for employees of said companies, is greater than what would be generated by a soccer-specific stadium.

According to Gillette Stadium's calendar, the facility will host a total of 56 events this year, including Revolution matches, Patriots training camp (stadium adjacent) and games, other sports events (NCAA lacrosse games, college football games, road races, etc.), concerts, and miscellaneous gatherings (AAA Travel Marketplace and the Spring Home Show). Some will ask, would a Boston-based soccer-specific stadium for the Revolution host a similar number of events and, if so, would the economic impact to the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts generated by said proposed stadium warrant a public infrastructure investment such as has been made in the Seaport District?

All I'm saying is that not all return on public infrastructure investment is equal. And you can be damn sure that there will be NIMBYs in Boston who will argue that point should it be proposed that a significant amount of public funding be invested into infrastructure improvements surrounding a new home for the Revolution.

 

However, remember that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts didn't "[give] Kraft a handout by investing in rt1 improvements for Gillette". The agreement that was eventually hammered out between the state and the Krafts resulted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts making $72 million in infrastructure improvements surrounding the stadium. However, it also requires Kraft to help repay that amount through a direct annual payment to the state of $1 million per year for 25 years, and satellite parking lot owners to shoulder a portion of the repayment burden through a total of $400,000 a year in licensing fees.

Bottom line? If Bob Kraft was willing to cut the same deal for a soccer-specific stadium that he made to get Gillette Stadium built - namely, finance 100% of the facility's construction costs privately and reimburse the City of Boston and/or Commonwealth of Massachusetts for any publicly-funded up-front infrastructure improvements - the Revolution would already be playing in their new home.

 

I get your cui bono argument but it doesn't change the fact those infrastructure improvements benefit everyone who passes through the stadium's vicinity. Just like route one today. Soe wwhilethere are certainly stadium events that happen at Gillette, I could see many of those events also taking place at a new SSS. Holding events beyond the scope of the sport the stadium was built for is a revenue model used by clubs all over the world and would be smart business by the city if done here.

 

Yeah, it used to take me about 35 minutes to drive from my daughter's school to work, which was 6 miles away!

 

And it never will be!

 

Feldman was on CounterAttack on SiriusXM with Dunseth and Meola previewing the game.

But then Dunseth asked about the Revs new training facility. Feldman was like, I am so glad you asked about that. Its really awesome, its on the foxboro campus, it'll be great, and he ends with "...and for those people that say Kraft doesn't care, here is a example that says they do"

Of course, then there was a pregnant pause as I am sure everyone was thinking: well, I guess, better late than never.

But then I went to the Revs site - could not find anything about this. You would think that would be some main tagged story on the site. It hasn't been picked up by MLS writers (has it?) to be written about on MLS site which they love to do articles on team's training sites. Have they marketed/promoted any of this? Maybe I missed it.

 

Groundbreaking is Monday. I'm sure there will be more then.

 

I think that ship has sailed.

 

Maybe that was one of the pre-interview talking points they were going to mention anyway, but they aren't exactly going out of their way to promote the good things they do, like this. Most teams would be all over this, making sure the local media and everyone else who might be interested knew about this.

I have to laugh at the last statement. PR 101. You don't ever bring up the point that some people are saying something negative. Given the Revs death-valley level profile, certainly there are people who haven't heard that "Kraft doesn't care" narrative, so no reason to put it out there, even if to refute it.

 

[QUOTE="ToMhIlL, post: 37189286, member: 3921I have to laugh at the last statement. PR 101. You don't ever bring up the point that some people are saying something negative. Given the Revs death-valley level profile, certainly there are people who haven't heard that "Kraft doesn't care" narrative, so no reason to put it out there, even if to refute it.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like someone(s) is reading the analysis/feedback re:customer satisfaction (mostly on social media, I would guess (after all, the media in general isn't too harsh on them, ))...

...and someone(s) is getting quite irritated by and prickly about it -- to the point of violating this basic PR tenet.

I guess that means someone(s) is actually seeing the words their customers have taken time to type for them, and hopefully are "listening" to what they are seeing.

 

DC United is just going to be remix of the 2014 Revs and 2017 Fire.

Rooney came in over half way through the year, and the guys on Extratime radio made a really good point about why having Rooney for a full season may have not increased their PPG, and even argue it could have decreased it.

Rooney, much like Bastion, comes in for a half season where he can play at 110% every game. Also Rooney has barely had to travel this season. DC United has one shot at winning MLS Cup this year, much like the 2014 Revs, before that star player actually shows his age. Chicago turned into a dumpster fire with a full time Bastion, and I expect DC United to so the same next season.

The only thing that will save DCU next season is continual investment to support Rooney who won't have the legs for a full 34 game season. The Revs failed to invest behind Jermaine Jones, and slid back to mediocrity. The Krafts have already seen how this plays out, and it's my hope they see the similarities and learn from it.

 

DCU has thd benefit of also having productive homegrown players in their system. Durkin, Canouse, even Arriola (who is terrible for the US but fine in MLS). Who is the revs shining achievement of player development in the last 5 years? The revs got diego and scotty and stopped, whereas DC got Hamid and kept the pipeline rolling

 

This is what many of us were saying at the time. It wasa fork-in-the-road moment, where we were this close to winning the whole enchilada, and if they had invested in a couple more pieces in the 14-15 off-season, we could have been a serious contender.

But we took the path we always take, good enough is good enough, we almost won it, and besides, bringing in 2-3 top players will cost a lot of money. And if we ever did win a title, then all those guys who played a part in it are just gonna want more money.

 

Here ya go:
New England Revolution break ground on Foxborough training facility
October 15, 2018, 1:20PM EDT
Jonathan Sigal

 

Nice to see a $35 million training complex for the players. Now for the groundbreaking that we the fans have been waiting for.

 

Is this facility equipped to train a new team president and general manager? Just as importantly - indeed, perhaps more so - will it be capable of training the New England Revolution's investor/operators to actually give a shit about their Major League Soccer franchise?

 

I think the training facility is more evidence that an urban SSS is potentially a myth. I don’t know why they’d put their training facility that far away from their main stadium.

 

You're not seeing the big picture! See, when Unicorn Stadium finally opens in Boston, Jonathan Kraft's great-grandson will be starting a USL club in Foxboro and take over this facility...

 

It's a 20 minute drive from FC Barcelona's stadium (on two different subway stops) to their training ground in a suburb of Barcelona.

Putting a training ground anywhere in urban Boston would be a waste of money (and also bad urban planning - valuable land should be more productive than soccer fields & weight rooms which are usually empty).

 

Well think about it - the urban stadium is to give urban fans greater access. The first team and academy players are the ones utilizing the training facility not the fans. Hence, if the Krafts own acres upon acres in Foxboro and can earmark some for a complex, may as well build it there. I dont have a problem with this at all.

 

The physical location is on the back of the lot, backed up against the residential neighborhoods in foxborough. The residents have pitched a stink about it being developed for commercial use, but have compromised on the much less noisey/privacy invading training facility

 

Kind of the response I expected. I certainly can’t refute the logic. I’m just not feeling it. For now, Foxboro seems like the Mecca/Medina/Rome/Jerusalem of Kraft Sports. Just an opinion. As usual, no way to prove anything.

 

I didn’t say to put the training facility in Boston.

20 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes away. What is too far away?

My thinking is that build decisions by the Krafts seem to always wind up back in Foxboro. It is the center of their sports operation after all , it’s cost effective, and they make really good money on attendance for that other team...

 

This happened every year after making the MLS finals. They failed to invest in the team to make them better. Not one time did they make a major move to bring in an impact player(s) to put them over the top. If your only goal is to make the playoffs why bother investing in the team right?