Revolution Stadium Groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part V

Someone asked if they were going to build a stadium in Foxborough at one of these meeting they had with supporters recently. They said no. Someone posted it on Big Soccer. I don't have the time to find it.

And they've said they're looking to build a stadium in the urban core over and over.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/18/new_stadium_could_kick_start_revolution_somerville/?page=2

 

I know what everyone feels about this situation...

I've said this before, but it bears repeating.

I cannot see, from a business decision, how spending 50(If they go real cheap) to 200 million(on a RBA style stadium) will make good business sense?

They're going to go from possibly 0 debt..and most likely a break even/to slightly red fiscal scenario to Tons of debt and NO GUARANTEE. Sure, lots of people are screaming for a stadium. But, I don't believe the payback will be there for all these pieces to fit.

I took my 2 & 4 year old nephews and my Steeler's FAN Brother in law to their first game ever. I didn't hear any complaints. The loved the game, the Fort atmosphere, etc. We got there a little late for a full blown tailgate(Actually rushed to cook burgers and dogs @3:15, but made it in for kickoff). Got a free ticket to boot...

I'd love a stadium in town...but I just can't see it.

 

I agree. I don't think the numbers are there that justifies Kraft constructing a SSS.

 

Boston/New England These Damn Directions Are Causing A Fight That's Making You Re-think Moving In With Your Girlfriend.

Or maybe that's just me.

 

The numbers make sense. You are looking at it as if the Revs would be the only tenants.

The Krafts would not have spent this much time, effort and money if the pro forma didn't show profit.

On this I am sure...its the site that is the hold up. The WONT spend 200 million unless the site works and the NIMBY issues can be resolved.

On this note - what if Kraft did a deal with UMass in exchange for the UMass football team to use Gillette ? Some sort of deal for land near UMAss Boston ? Who would have to approve that ?

 

I disagree. I think they'll always be able to attract the youth soccer crowd and attendance won't dip any lower.

 

Are you suggesting that UMass football would be tenants at the SSS? If so, I definitely don't see that happening either.

Kraft wants customers at Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place.

 

I don't think any of us can guess the exact economics of the situation, but some napkin math on my part seems to indicate that an SSS is economically sound ONLY in the perfect location (subway and highway access).

By building an SSS in the Urban core, you're probably going to need $20 to $30 million/year in additional revenue. Less than half of that additional revenue will come from tickets and naming rights, even if you sell out every game. So you're still looking for $10-15 million/year in additional revenue. If the stadium is in a great location, I could see the potential for 20-30 additional events at the stadium each year that could potentially close that revenue gap.

IMO, a stadium in a bad location (suburbs/no T access) wouldn't be able to book as many concerts, resulting in net losses for the Krafts. Thus, it appears the market pressures are working in our favor. It seems just barely economically feasible to build an SSS on the T, but not at all feasible to build it anywhere else.

 

He explicitly says for UMass to use Gillette Stadium in his post. Considering they're already using Gillette Stadium for football, I'm not quite sure how they could work this.

 

If it doesn't cost anything to Kraft. Which, in the past, I've always said, the Revs were his Tax Write-off. As long as it's a feasible tax write-off. I'll leave that to the accountants to quarrel over..LOL

It makes more sense to Kraft, to keep the Revs at Gillette..paying some imaginary, accounting purposes only, rent! As long as the STH hold and whatever money comes in from occasional Beckham days, and other double header events with the Revs, keeps his numbers stable. Losing a little to having a flat profit/loss is more beneficial than NEEDING to generate a continual revenue stream on his now inflated DEBT, incurred in building a SSS. T or no T, it doesn't matter. He'd need a sellout at each and every Revs home game, plus an aggressive concert/other event ticket sales for it to "begin" to help cover the nut..!

The Revs brand attached to Bob Kraft is NOT going to win over anymore fans of the Sport anytime soon! They came to check out the product back in the 90's and decided, nah..not for me. I'll stay home & watch the EPL, SerieA, LaLiga, etc on FSC/ESPN/GolTV/RAI and catch that occasional USA vs "NAME THAT COUNTRY" and BenficaInterACManSantos UnitedCity game when it comes every other year at Gillette!

Would there be a bump in attendance should a SSS be built? Sure, as a novelty, it will get very decent crowds in its first year or so..Perhaps! but again, no guarantee. Rebrand and sign a couple of real name players and get a coach who also has some exposure..and then you're starting to show commitment. But, having Kraft's name splashed around on this project and have his quasi visible indifferent self associated with it..and those same fans will say, Uh uh..Not again...You pulled the wool over our eyes once. You're not going to do it again..!

 

What else can you do with a SSS in an urban core?

Between April and November, you've got 18 dates booked for the Revs.

Concerts: 5-10 dates (?)

Other sports suitable to a soccer pitch: college soccer, rugby, lacrosse, women's soccer. How many teams in the region?

Hell, outdoor hockey - way better than Fenway

Finals to top-level amateur and high school soccer tournaments

Other events / expos / shows.

Parking and concession revenues from all of the above feed the bottom line even if the facility rent ain't much and / or the ticket revenue goes to someone else.

The point is, you can keep this thing utilized pretty well if you put the effort in - year round, actually, if you're willing to commit to refrigeration for outdoor hockey.

 

The problem with this theory is that within the University of Massachusetts system, the individual campuses are often loathe to acknowledge the existence of any of the other schools, let alone engage in actively helping another campus to gain public funds and/or land a facility that would provide a boost to the other school.

Land near, or on, the UMass Boston campus is not as readily available as you seem to believe it is.

The university has no claim on "land near" the campus; as such, it would have to pay to obtain it. As for land on the campus, the vast majority of it is spoken for under UMass Boston's current 25-year Campus Master Plan, with much of it earmarked for the new Integrated Sciences Complex, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, at least one new General Academic Building (with construction of a second a distinct likelihood), living space with 2,000 beds of student housing, two new parking structures, and renovation and expansion of existing facilities.

At minimum, you'd be looking at the involvement of the University of Massachusetts President's Office, the UMass Boston Chancellor's Office, the UMass Building Authority, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management. There's every reason to believe that the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees would also want to give any public-private partnership between a state university and a for-profit, private business entity the once over. And there's absolutely no doubt that UMass Boston would run the very thought of construction of a 20,000-to-25,000-seat, on-campus soccer-specific stadium past the residents of neighboring communities in order to see how it sat with them.

Bottom line? A soccer-specific home for the New England Revolution on the UMass Boston campus would be wrapped-up in so much bureaucratic red-tape, and face so much potential NIMBY opposition, that we have a better chance of seeing a facility built for the Revs as part of Newt Gingrich's Lunar City.

 

One problem is that Gillette Stadium serves some of the events mentioned already, such as lacrosse. I don't think the colleges in the Boston area have an interest in paying to use the SSS if they already have their own fields already. Also, it's not like college soccer, or the other sports mentioned are a big draw anyways.

Who is going to play hockey at the SSS?

Agreed. UMass Boston would not be interested in working a deal with Kraft for nearby land for a SSS just so UMass Amherst football can play at Gillette Stadium. All the UMass branches are very independent and there's little cooperation between Amherst, Boston, Lowell, Dartmouth, and wherever else.

 

Our best option at this point would be to try getting a deal done with Wonderland or give Somerville one more chance.

 

You guys have to consider that any new events at the SSS would also need to include replacing 18 Revs dates at Gillette Stadium too. You can't just consider adding the additional events to the SSS without considering the loss of the Revs to Gillette Stadium.

 

How many events are already "lost" to Gillette because of the Revs? For example, big stadium concerts have a pretty narrow window of dates, and let's say the Rolling Stones are looking to play in the Boston area on a summer weekend, and Gillette would be a perfect place, but the Revs have a home game? They end up playing at the Gahden, or maybe Fenway.

Or Kraft axes the league to juggle the Revs schedule with a couple more midweek games.

Anyway, with the Revs out of the picture at Gillette, there is the possibility of scheduling even more at Gillette than would otherwise be possible.

 

". . . around June" could be sometime in May, during June, or sometime in July. The more pessimistic view is that BB didn't specify which year. For example, based on the quote, he didn't say "this June" or June of this year. LOL

 

Actually he meant June, *the person*, so you have to wait until he does a press conference standing next to someone named June before there will be any kind of announcement....

 

Then when he stops talking to June, the announcement will be they are trying real hard and that they hope to give us an update in the next 6 months.

 

You are confusing the word "hope" with the word "promise".

As a Revs fan, you should know that hopes rarely materialize.

 

UMass actually owns the former Bayside Expo center, it is land that as of yet has not been earmarked for any project and they are still investigating possible uses for it.