Hope Of A Stadium In Somerville Still Alive. Revs official site. We hope this truly pans out. Boston area would rock in their own stadium.
They always have the perfect answers to string us along hoping that there's a chance that we'll get a stadium. It's a more specific statement than usual, but nothing's really being said until something actually gets done.
If they already spent 1 million to study the sites , I guess the krafts are serious about building a SSS for the Revs. Much easier to get to and lots of bars and places to eat after a game close to the stadium, just like in Seattle.
Whose quote was that about the Kraft's pursuit of an SSS being as genuine as OJ's pursuit of the real killer?
What's the most rot-gut crime-infested municipality in the Boston urban area? Maybe that's where the stadium should be.
I'm pretty sure that was me. I use OJ's mythical search a lot when referencing the team doing anything serious. EDIT: But upon further review, not this time. Matrim55 gets the credit. Because after Bob sunk $250 million of his own money into his struggling mall, why would he move one of the things that brings people to Gillette (and hopefully to go shopping)? That's one reason out of a couple dozen. Look this is, no doubt, very interesting. I'm curious as to what these other "Boston-area" locations are he's talking about. But here's something to bear in mind, at this year's Career Fair Bilello said something along the lines of "Patriots Place needs one more building." I don't think he expected it to get around, but it did.. He does a good job of backpedaling, I'll give him that.
By Comparing the two cities, my main objective was that Union just joined MLS and they already opened their SSS . I am sure Somerville a perfect spot for a soccer stadium and a lovely location.
Yes, because Keystone Sports & Entertainment doesn't own The Linc and realized that paying rent isn't a viable long-term solution. The Revolution play in a stadium owned and controlled by Mr. Kraft, who has two other entities he owns that are of a higher priority to him. One also plays in Gillette, the other is right next to it. Somerville would be the perfect place to have a Boston-area SSS with its public transportation access and urban location, but its difficult to imagine Kraft coughing up the dough while there are major concerns with the Patriots (resigning Brady) and Patriots Place (getting people to come).
And here. And probably about ten other threads over the years. Honestly, I've been trotting out that line since at least 2005. It's the most reliable laugh since the old Nicky Sack, 60-to-90 days softshoe.
I tend to be pretty cynical in general and am definitely an "I'll believe it when I see the supporters groups cheering in them" type when it comes to SSS, but... It would be much easier for the Revs to say nothing about the Somerville project and that leads me to believe there's still interest. I get the doubt and I certainly understand the possibility of the Revs just stringing their fans along with statements like this just to keep their hopes up and interest in the team going. But, I just think that if they really had no interest in Somerville that saying nothing and letting it just drift away would be the way to go. I also think the "conversations with other sites in the Metro area" stuff is a quote aimed both at the fans, to generate hope and interest, and at Somerville to show they have other options and thus help them some in negotiations. I could be reading this all wrong and I might be way too naive and I'll stand up and admit my mistake if that turns out to be the case. But that's how I see it.
You're correct about having their fans on the hook. It's a case of crying wolf too many times, but why would they spent a million dollars studying the Somerville and other sites.
Of course, not for nothin' but. . . that one eventually got built. Yes but in that case you could already break even in the Philly market by not being in the Philly market at all. 0-0=0. Both the NY and Philly market situations took years and years to resolve. The difference is more perceived than real, based on the fact that NY had a team at the time, but Garber was beating the bushes for a Philly deal to come together. It took years to pull off. The moral of the story here is really the same as with pretty much everything related to the development of soccer in this country, which is that just because things ain't happenin' quick don't necessarily mean nothin's happenin'. The Revs may not be losing money in Gillette, or not enough to bother Kraft, but there is another side to that ledger, which is that franchise values are starting to diverge in this league based one a whole host of success-related factors, one of which would doubtless include location/accessibility. That divergence can only be expected to grow over time. Adding to that that stadium-related revenue (boxes, naming rights, and other stadium sponsorships) can defray a big chunk (not all, not if you expect your stadium to be nice, but if you're not overdoing the nice part, it's a big chunk) of the construction cost, you have reason to look at the option. It's certainly true that "bad but tolerable" situations often tend to lead you to kind of sit around looking only for the kind of alternative that will never materialize. But that's not really my read on it, at least not to that degree. To me, the most straightforward explanation for the backpedaling and shifting of points is that the Revs legitimately do not know what the options will be and which way they will go. That's why he would try to spin anything they do wind up doing as a net positive, but if they weren't doing anything, the PR move is to try to spin that as a positive, talking about Gillette's alleged amenities. Which is really not something I see the team doing, not without mixing the message by talking about other locations. The unfortunate thing is that this leaves the franchise in limbo to a certain extent. Trying to grow the team's fanbase in the current situation (and I mean by that more than just stadium location) is swimming upstream to begin with, and if you're just going to change location in any significant way five years from now, a lot of it is going to strike any planner as wasted money.
The beauty of the current situation is that there is no limbo. Limbo would require the Revs to currently have a marketing budget. Or fans who attend games. Who said I'm cynical?
I guess I don't understand the whole "string along" argument. If the Krafts made an organizational decision that they will stay in the stadium that they already control, or at most, move to a parking lot in Foxboro to keep people coming out there for 50-60 event nights a year, then what on earth is the upside to fueling rumors to the contrary? I think they would be much, much better off saying, "we have decided that the Revs will be in Foxboro for as long as we own the team."
fyp From Stan's post: They're keeping the door open for a municipality or partner (read: "sucker") to build the stadium for them. Like Hartford did 10 years ago, leading to the sweetheart deal the Krafts got on Gillette. In the meantime, they're willing to take a slight loss. Shitty owners, but good businessmen.
I guess I understand, but if the whole dog and pony show is nothing more than keeping future options open and that they are not serious NOW, then I don't think it is necessarily good business. I think it would be better to make a firm statement to your fans -- "We are in Foxboro and we will stay here" -- and then if they want a private message going out to a few municipalities saying, "we aren't doing this anytime soon, but in the future, we might be looking for bids if we feel the value of our franchise won't grow where we are at" they could accomplish the same thing. Frankly, if they aren't serious now then any talks with local governments are useless as those governments will change.