When Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber glibly referred to the New England Revolution as a “model franchise” after it won the Eastern Conference playoff title a year ago, he passed over one aspect of its model behavior where information has always been sparse — the location and timing of a new soccer stadium for the team.
Now team owner-operator the Kraft family has, reports Eric Moskowitz, commissioned a $150,000 study to examine the prospect of a stadium in the town of Somerville, just north of Boston. The team, he writes, “is strongly considering” Somerville “to raise its profile in the region and capitalize on a rich concentration of immigrant soccer fans.”
Other benefits include a future Green Line subway stop and the willingness of Somerville leaders to turn an industrial no-man’s land “into a vibrant commercial and residential district.” Somerville’s mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said the Krafts “make no bones about the fact that they want to be in the urban core, which is a smart move on their part, and we’re excited about it.” A soccer stadium, he added, would be “a major focal point, an anchor that brings a lot of value and a lot of activity to that district.”
Kraft spokesperson Stacey James said the Krafts are exploring multiple urban and suburban locations for a Revolution stadium, but the Somerville site is the only one that has undergone a planning study. “We’re still in the process of considering all our options and selecting the option that is best for all involved,” he told Moskowitz.