New England Revolution Everett home renderings

Image: New England Revolution

The Major League Soccer (MLS) team New England Revolution have one of the largest fan bases in Major League Soccer, but its stadium is almost an hour outside of the City of Boston, Massachusetts (US). This hurts attendance and stymies ticket sales. Now, after two decades of playing at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the franchise owner Robert Kraft wants to bring the Revolution closer to the City on a Hill.

‘The Architect’s Newspaper’ stated that at a public hearing held on April 2nd with the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies (a standing committee that is made up of 13 House members and 7 Senate members), the New England Revolution officials unveiled preliminary renderings of a new soccer stadium in Everett, Massachusetts – a blue-collar City of almost 50,000 people just outside the Boston City limits.

The site the Kraft Group has in mind is a 43-acre brownfield on the Mystic River where a shuttered power plant currently stands not far from the Encore Boston, a casino that opened in 2019.

The Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men’s professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport’s highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams – 26 in the United States and 3 in Canada – since the 2023 season. The MLS is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the 10 charter clubs of the MLS, having competed in the league since its inaugural season.

The 65,878-capacity Gillette Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles Southwest of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, and 18 miles Northeast of Providence, Rhode Island (US).

Robert Kraft is an American sports executive and businessman. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development, and a private equity portfolio.

It was reported that last November Robert Kraft was interested in the Mystic River site. The announcement comes after the Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gave notice last year that her administration hopes to repurpose an existing stadium in Dorchester’s Franklin Park (Boston’s largest park, covering 527 acres and located in the Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods) into a new women’s professional stadium by Stantec (global design firm).

‘The Architect’s Newspaper’ further stated that to build a stadium at the site the Kraft Group has elected to work with, the local politicians need to convert it from a designated port area into a new zoning category that allows for stadium use. At the April 2^nd hearing, the Everett (City in Massachusetts) State Senator Sal DiDomenico proposed a new Bill to do so.

An architect for the New England Revolution’s tentative Mystic River Stadium hasn’t been announced. Renderings shared by the developer and the professional sports team show a gleaming white arena with an impressive cantilevered roof that hovers out over the sidewalk.

The Mystic River Stadium is a proposed 25,000-seat soccer stadium on the banks of the Mystic River in Everett, for the New England Revolution. The Kraft Group is planning to build the stadium on 43.11 acres of land at 173 Alford Street. The City of Everett has agreed to build the stadium, which would provide economic mobility opportunities for the residents, improve the region’s transit network and provide access to the Mystic River.

Brian Bilello, New England Revolution President, noted at the April 2^nd hearing that “the design is by no means final”, but the development team hopes to bring a four-acre public park with waterfront access and public transportation. Bilello also noted that his team is exploring “water transit” options.

At the hearing, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said the stadium project is of vital economic importance to his constituents – “There are some people who would lead you to believe this Bill is about a soccer stadium. Or that it’s being driven by a professional sports organization, but that is misleading. This legislation is about the financial harm that Everett is already suffering from the dwindling value of an outdated, environmental nuisance.”

In his statement, Mayor DeMaria noted that due to the power plant’s closure, the City of Everett stands to lose $55 million in tax revenue by 2026. He pointed to the Assembly Row in Somerville (a 45-acre mixed-use neighborhood) and the Seaport in South Boston (a redeveloped stretch of the South Boston waterfront lined with large, sleek restaurants, bars and hotels) as examples of what he’d like to see on the Mystic River.

While the project is backed by the Everett officials, Arthur Jemison, Mayor Wu’s Planning Chief, raised concerns about coordination. Sharon Durkan, a Boston City Councilor whose jurisdiction includes the 19,580-capacity TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and the 37,755-capacity Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, said that a soccer stadium on the Everett site could be a traffic “nightmare”.

Public transit doesn’t currently link to the site, but planners in Everett are committed to connecting the area with public transit options, Mayor DeMaria said.

A construction timeline hasn’t been announced.

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