But before that happens, it might be worth asking: Do we really need both?
Plans are moving forward to have shiny new homes for both the New England Revolution , relocated at last from Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium into the core of the region, and the city’s newly formed National Women’s Soccer League team, BOS Nation Football Club. Permitting for both is advancing up the field now, and faster than a well-aimed cross into the box, Boston could go from having zero professional soccer stadiums to having two, just eight miles apart.
I’ve been kicking around this question for a while, and now seems the moment to ask: Does Boston really need to build two new professional soccer stadiums at the same time?
Plenty of other Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League teams share venues, including in Portland, Ore.; Washington, D.C.; and New York. And there are good reasons — based in both economics and optics — for men’s and women’s clubs to play together.
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The Revs are proposing a spectacular, state-of-the-art stadium for $500 million that would seat about 24,000 and sit on the Mystic riverfront in Everett, across the street from the Encore Boston Harbor casino on land owned by Wynn Resorts. Meanwhile, BOS Nation plans to redevelop Franklin Park’s dilapidated White Stadium, in a partnership with the city of Boston, which would cost $100 million for a venue with a capacity of about 10,000.
White Stadium in Franklin Park could be redeveloped under a $100 million plan to redo the stadium to house a new women’s professional soccer team. Andrew Burke-Stevenson for The Boston Globe
Combining efforts makes a lot of sense. For one, it would save $50 million in taxpayer money, which is how much Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston is pledging to spend on White Stadium. And if we believe the future burns bright for NWSL and BOS Nation, why shouldn’t the women play on a stage as grand as the men’s?
I’ve got to think these questions have crossed the minds of the Kraft family, which owns the Revs, and the collection of women business leaders behind BOS Nation.
Jonathan Kraft, heir apparent to running the Kraft sports empire that includes the New England Patriots, has known BOS Nation cofounder Stephanie Connaughton for years. The two have met to discuss their soccer ventures, but that was before either of their stadium plans had been fully formed.
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And New England Revolution president Brian Bilello has met with BOS Nation leadership numerous times for a variety of reasons, and says he’s eager to continue conversations about how they could partner.
“Should they ever wish to use our facilities, whether it be Gillette Stadium, our training center, or our anticipated new stadium, should it come to fruition, we would certainly be open to collaborating with them,” Bilello said in a statement.
Initial conversations about playing in the same stadium have not gone very far, for a variety of reasons. One is because the women want to play in their stadium when they start their inaugural season in 2026; the soonest the Revs’ field would be ready is 2027. But given that White Stadium demolition has yet to begin, perhaps the timing could work out after all.
None of this would be easy. BOS Nation has invested considerable time, money, and political capital in its plan for White Stadium. The stadium has also become a passion project for Wu, who wants a modern facility that can also be used by Boston Public Schools high school athletes.
So despite fierce community opposition, worries about noise, traffic, and public transit access, and even a lawsuit seeking to halt the project, the team is not ready to walk away.
“Since the moment we announced the return of women’s professional soccer to Boston, our goal has been clear: to play in a world-class stadium located at the heart of the city that is easily accessible to our fans and generates positive impact year-round,” said a statement from BOS Nation. “White Stadium and our partnership with the city symbolize the progress of women’s professional teams in establishing a true home for the club.”
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An artist’s rendering of a proposed New England Revolution soccer stadium along the Mystic River in Everett. The Kraft Group
Further complicating matters: Wu could face a challenge in next year’s mayor’s race from the Kraft family itself. Longtime nonprofit leader Josh Kraft is considering a run for mayor, which surely would make stadium negotiations between the city and his brother Jonathan awkward.
Politics aside, everyone knows the Krafts aren’t the easiest people to negotiate with. And BOS Nation has its own constellation of owners with business before the city. The team’s controlling manager is Jennifer Epstein, a startup investor and whose father, Robert, is a longtime real estate developer and minority owner of the Celtics. The soccer team’s other investors include Globe CEO Linda Henry, who holds a small, noncontrolling interest.
And beyond neighborhood opposition, there remain questions about whether the stadium project is even a good deal for the city. Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, in an op-ed in Commonwealth Beacon magazine, lays out how building a new high school soccer and football stadium would cost the city about $20 million, tops. Spending much more, he concludes, is basically offering a subsidy to a for-profit sports team.
Indeed, Zimbalist said, it’s confounding why the men’s and women’s teams aren’t planning to play in the same stadium.
“This is a natural marriage,” Zimbalist tells told me in an interview. “They should be working together.”
All that is to say it might be time for BOS Nation to go on a dual track. Keep working on White Stadium, yes, but open up a side conversation with the Krafts about sharing space.
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One way to do so could be the upcoming negotiations between the Krafts and Wu to hammer out a community impact agreement for their Everett stadium. That’s a requirement of the legislation just passed on Beacon Hill to enable it, and will give the city a chance to make a request of the Krafts.
Typically, these agreements involve setting aside land for public parks or money for community programs. But this might be an opportunity to think bigger.
Protesters at a September rally opposed the idea of redeveloping White Stadium in Franklin Park through a partnership with a newly formed professional women’s soccer team. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
If making White Stadium a pro-soccer venue becomes a lost cause, one politically palatable plan would be for the women’s team to come to Everett, while the Krafts pay to help upgrade White Stadium for BPS.
It may seem like a long shot, but it just might be the right thing to do. The Everett stadium site is an industrial wasteland now — the site of a decommissioned power plant — but its location is unbeatable on the waterfront looking across to the Boston skyline is unbeatable . For his part, Mayor Carlo DeMaria of Everett would gladly welcome two teams to his city.
“This would be a great place for the women to play,” he said as we walked the stadium site on Nov. 27 “I think the Krafts feel the same way.”
Let’s just hope political ambitions don’t turn our soccer fields of dreams into nightmares.
Shirley Leung is a Business columnist and host of the Globe Opinion podcast “Say More with Shirley Leung.” Find the podcast on Apple, Spotify, and globe.com/saymore. Follow her on Threads @shirley02186
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Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.