Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 8, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 9 Graduate Programs clarku.edu/graduate The Clark MBA | Finance | Accounting Analytics and Big Data | Computer Science Project Management | Communications Sustainable Development Public Administration Generous Scholarships for Central Massachusetts Students Local, Flexible, Career-Focused Unnamed Portland Unnamed Boston Name New England Revolution Hartford Athletic Rhode Island FC franchise franchise Location Foxborough, Hartford, Pawtucket, Portland, Maine Boston, Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts League Major League Soccer USL Championship USL Championship USL League One National Women's (divison level) (Division I) (Division II) (Division II) (Division III) Soccer League (Division I) Debut season 1996 2019 2024 2025 2026 Stadium Gillette Stadium Trinity Health Stadium Beirne Stadium Fitzpatrick Stadium White Stadium (capacity) (20,000) 5,500) (5,252) (6,000) (11,000) Sources: Individual team websites, media reports, City of Boston Stadium notes New England's professional soccer teams Gillette Stadium's capacity is 65,878 but is generally restricted to 20,000 for non-postseason Revolu- tion games. The team is pursuing a location near the Encore Casino in Everett for a soccer-specific stadium but has yet to secure nec- essary approvals. Originally built in 1935 as Dillion Stadium, Trin- ity Health Stadium was upgraded in 2018 after the State of Connecti- cut Bond Commission approved $10 million in public funding. The franchise will begin play on Bryant University's Smith- field campus but is set to move to a new 11,000-seat stadium under construction in Pawtucket for the 2025 season. The franchise will fund upgrades to modernize the City-owned Fitz- patrick Stadium, which originally opened in 1930. The City of Boston is undergoing a pub- lic-private partnership with the team to ren- ovate White Stadium, originally built in 1949. The group behind the team estimates that construction costs will be at least $30 million, with the City budgeting $10.5 million toward the project in fiscal 2024. renting playing venues. UNations FC, a men's team formed in 2004 and playing in various amateur leagues, and Worcester Fuel FC, a wom- en's team founded as Worcester Smiles FC in 2018 playing in the developmental United Women's Soccer League Two, both play at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium in Worcester. Fuel FC's fanbase is limited by the lack of financial resources when compared to teams like the Worcester Red Sox and Worcester Railers, said Raymund Lopolito, owner of Fuel FC. "A lot of [prospective fans] don't know about us because we're grassroots, and we don't have the same level of funding," Lopolito said, expressing a desire to have the city's political realm and media do more to sup- port the team. Foley Stadium is arguably the most prominent soccer venue in Central Massachusetts. e sta- dium hosted multiple exhibition games featuring the U.S. Women's National Team in the 1990s, Lopolioto said, and Foley was briefly home of the Worcester Wildfire and the Worcester Hydra, two minor league men's teams. is period saw large amounts of growth in the game in the wake of the United States hosting the 1994 Men's World Cup, a tournament including six games at Foxboro Stadium, which would become the home of the New England Revolution in newly created Major League Soccer the following year. MLS has since expanded from 10 to 29 teams. With the 2023 arrival of world famous soccer star Lionel Messi to MLS' Inter Miami CF and the upcoming World Cup, there's expectation that the next few years will once again see a wave of soccer enthusiasm sweep the country. e Revolution are now heading into their 29th year of existence, but lower league teams that have tried to make Central Massachusetts home haven't had the same luck. e Wildfire began play in 1996 but moved to Framingham's Bowditch Field and changed their name to the Boston Bulldogs in 1999 before folding in 2001. e team averaged 1,539 fans at Foley Stadium in 1997, according to e A-League Archives, a website chronicling the history of second-division soccer. Later on, the Hydra lasted a single season in 2012 before they folded, citing financial issues. Worcester County's population has grown a lot since the first time the country hosted the World Cup, adding 119,501 residents from 1990 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Foley's current usefulness is limited by its size, neighbor's noise complaints, a lack of parking, and the venue's status as a high school sports venue, which prevents alcohol sales, said Lopolito. Polar Park pitch Elsewhere in Worcester, College of the Holy Cross' Fitton Field holds 23,500, but satellite imaging shows its surface is approximately 210 feet wide, too small to properly accommodate a soccer pitch without the stadium's walls impairing play. is leaves the Polar Park baseball sta- dium as one of the few potential venues with the right capacity and amenities for a pro team. e stadium's football configuration used for the annual EBW Football Classic suggests a soccer pitch could fit, even if it would be tight. A baseball field oen may offer soccer fans less-than ideal sightlines, but it's not uncommon for USL-level teams to play in Minor League Baseball parks. ree USL teams – FC Tulsa, Mem- phis 901 FC, and Albuquerque's New Mexico United – play at venues that are the home of franchises owned by Dia- mond Baseball Holdings, the New York firm that purchased a majority share of the Worcester Red Sox in December. Lopolito said his limited discussions with the WooSox, who oversee the use of the City-owned Polar Park, about hosting soccer haven't led to results. But team officials remain optimistic. "We have been approached previously about soccer possibilities at Polar Park, and we'd like to find a way to make it happen in the future," Bill Wanless, WooSox senior vice president of com- munications, said via email. In the day and age where lower-level teams are building soccer-specific stadi- ums, ballparks aren't an ideal permanent home, said Hakala, the soccer journalist. "I can't think of a baseball stadium that has worked on a long-term basis," he said. Regardless of the venue, a prospective Worcester soccer franchise will need to find a team of employees who under- stand the challenging road ahead and are passionate about marketing the sport, said Hakala. "Anyone who's worked in minor league sports will tell you need to find people who can wear a lot of different hats," he said. "It's a passion project for a lot of people, but you have to have good people at the core of it to make it work." Raymund Lopolito, owner of Worcester Fuel FC W

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