Gillette Stadium World Cup row brewing

Article posted by Coliseum, February 23^rd, 2026

Image: Gillette Stadium, Jared, CC BY-SA 3.0

The U.S. town of Foxboro has threatened to cancel FIFA World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium this summer if it doesn’t receive the security money needed to host the event.

CBS said matches are scheduled to start on June 13 and end in July but the town can’t afford to front the $7.8 million needed for security and wait to be reimbursed later.

Seven games are set to be played at the stadium, which will be called Boston Stadium for the tournament, including a quarter-final match.

Bill Yukna, a member of the town’s select board, said, “It’s the equivalent of seven Super Bowls here and 39 days of coverage. Which is not small and not to be lost. We have to secure that facility for 39 days straight.

“It comes down to sounding like Foxboro is being the bad guys here, but we really aren’t. All we’re trying to do is protect our citizens.”

The 65,878-capacity Gillette Stadium is a football stadium located in the town of Foxboro, Massachusetts (US), which is 22 miles Southwest of downtown Boston and 18 miles Northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home ground of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution.

The town’s board met recently to try and get an answer about the funding for security, which it was supposed to have received by 30^th January.

During the meeting, the town said that major safety equipment still needs to be ordered, and that their fiscal calendar ends in the middle of the games.

The board explained that it will withhold the essential entertainment license until they are reimbursed several million dollars. March 17 is the deadline for the entertainment license.

Select board member Stephanie McGowan said, “The money has to be here. Everyone thinks we have a football stadium in this town. But with that being said we’re a small town. We have 18,000 people.”

Leadership for the games said that grant funding will cover the costs.

Boston 2026 Host Committee Chair Mike Loynd said, “The White House task force is working on a daily basis to work with DHS and FEMA on that. I don’t think I can say anything more about that. We’re being told it’s expected any day now.”

Gov. Maura Healey said she has no doubts that the matches will happen as scheduled at Gillette Stadium.

Healey said, “We just gotta make sure that expenses are taken care of because cities are towns are already burdened enough. This is going to go forward. It’s gonna be great.”

The Foxboro Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and Boston Police were awarded a collective $11 million in grant funding to protect against “malicious drone activity” during the games and American 250 events.

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