Revolution Stadium Groundbreaking "12-24 months" Part XVI

So, is he not now?

 

Assembly Square kind of killed that idea

 

How did they jerk him around?

 

The Tim Logan article didn't offer anything new. The same Holy Cross economist saying the math wouldn't work and pointing out the realities of acquiring land in Boston. In general I like that it's being discussed publicly. No hiding from NIMBYs with closed door handshake deals. Get all their objections out now then systematically refute each one.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...oesn-boston/5wDPNiIagEt2Q7g4UPKJxL/story.html

Here is the link, but it talks about Minnesota United New Stadium as a background for the article.

 

And in other news, Grant Wahl has come out again with this year's "Ambition Rankings" and not surprisingly, the Revs are almost at the bottom. I don't argue that we are one of the least ambitious clubs (maybe that will change with the Arena era, but too soon to say right now), but his reasoning is wrong, lazy, and flawed.

Again he is harping on the lack of a new stadium in the "urban core." Sure, we all would love to see this happen, but even the harshest Kraft critics understand that given the costs and potential ROI when they already own a stadium make this an iffy investment. But Wahl doesn't seem to understand this, as he has been beating this drum literally for years.

The day the Revs play a home league game in a stadium other than GIllette is the day that the Patriots build a new palace because Gillette has become "obsolete."

Just for the record. my beef with the Krafts' lack of ambition has to do with all the things they aren't doing but could be that don't cost a lot of money or require a lot of effort. Those things could make a difference, both on and off the field, even if they are stuck at Gillette for the long term.

 

And here is the Grant Wahl MLS Ambition Rankings article:
https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/06/10/mls-ambition-rankings-2019

 

Yeah, I get what you are saying. Also, I've noticed lately that lot's of teams with a SSS still struggle to fill them, DC, Houston, LAG, Tor, Columbus, Col, Chi, Pink Cow, to name a few. Even in our less than desirable situation and even though our optic looks bad, still we out draw many of these cities.

 

Many? Chicago, Colorado and Columbus are the only teams amongst the eight you listed that the Revolution have managed, thus far, to outdraw this season.

 

Well, I guess the point is that a new stadium is nice, but if the organization is poorly run, it isn't going to miraculously make things great. Those 3 teams would definitely fall into the category, although their stadiums aren't really new anymore.

Remember when we had a brand-new (although too big) stadium? Attendance went down. The attitude was literally, if you build it, they will come, except when they didn't. Or "Look! We got cup holders!" It didn't help that they felt it was all they needed to do (for the Revs at least). The Patriots really did (and still do) sell themselves, so there was no effort into promoting the team that actually needed promotion.

And it didn't help that it cost more to park than it did for the cheapest ticket and all the fans were only on one side.

 

Which is a pretty good argument against a SSS - in a suburb or tough to access location. Spend all that money and you can't sell 20k tickets 17-20x a year?

 

And how do you know this?

 

I'm not talking this far. Our average goes up as the Summer gets here.

 

So is our target to not be the worst, or to be among the best? The counter argument is to look at the teams that fill whatever stadium they have. I doubt it is in a stadium that is 30 miles away from the major metropolitan support.

The issue we have is that Kraft is anchored in Foxboro. Too much invested there, he'll never leave. So - is the Revs alone enough for him to get to a SSS in Boston and overcome all the issues that Boston represents? I doubt it and history has shown that. The most likely scenario I recall is when the Olympics were on the table for Boston, i.e. not the Revs alone, but that fizzled pretty quickly.

My question is can he at least get somewhere where you can take reliable mass transit to get to and back from?

 

Yes, Union Point, straddling the Weymouth, Rockland and Abington lines, about 14 miles from Boston. There is rail service in there and there is also a stadium drawn into the master plan..

 

We talked about this awhile back. IIRC the stadium plot is too small, like minor league baseball sized, not MLS sized. It takes around 16 acres and I highly doubt the developer earmarked it for pro soccer.

 

Maybe true, but one thing I think is for certain... there's never going to be a minor league baseball park in there.

 

If we're going to dream...

Casino is phase one of ‘the entertainment district in the Northeast,’ exec says

Although he did not provide details on when the company might begin to expand, after Encore’s opening, Maddox said the company will learn what it’s missing. “Is it hotels? Is it arenas? What is it that needs to go here?”

 

Agreed. Makes no sense to me too except that I live 5 minutes from it!