New England

Soccer attendance is on the rise in New England, so is a stadium in Boston next?

Attendance is up for Revolution games in 2015. USA Today Sports

By Frank Dell’Apa

July 10, 2015

3 minutes to read

Attendance for Revolution games has increased this year at Gillette Stadium, and the number of fans filing out to Foxborough for soccer could go higher with the US national team match against Brazil, expected to be confirmed for Sept. 8.

“This is a tremendous year for us and, potentially, we could go north of 400,000 for the season,’’ Revolution president Brian Bilello said Friday. “We might go north of 17,000 and maybe 18,000 per game for the Revolution.’’

But first there is Tuesday night’s CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader: Honduras vs. Panama and the U.S. against Haiti. Nearly 40,000 tickets have been sold for the games, more than the previous record (33,265) for the Gold Cup at Gillette, set in 2003.

After 10 MLS games, the Revolution’s average crowd is 16,073, up from 15,126 after 10 games last season.

“We’ve had a few years now of pretty steady growth with the Revs,’’ Bilello said. “I think people are excited about the team. They were excited about getting to the MLS Cup last year and Jermaine (Jones) injecting energy into the team, and that will continue.

“I look at World Cup cycles, and you go back 12 years, there’s just a tremendous amount of interest growing for soccer in this country – the men’s team, the women’s team, MLS and all the new markets coming on board. Everything’s been changing every year for a long time. It’s very steady but rapidly growing. You look at how the men’s World Cup ratings ticked up, this women’s final. It’s everywhere, it’s not one thing.’’

So, is Boston missing out by not having a soccer specific stadium?

“Everyone knows we’re working to get something done,’’ Bilello said of a possible stadium. “There’s enough evidence in MLS to show how urban soccer stadiums are driving attendance and fan affinity and interest in the market – Kansas City, Portland, Toronto; Seattle is a bigger stadium but it’s an urban stadium. The evidence is there and it’s not just the attendance numbers but the level of interest in MLS and soccer being part of the urban landscape.’’

When MLS began 20 years ago, there were doubts about the league’s viability and general interest in soccer. What’s in store for the next 20 years?

“I think you’re going to see soccer at the very least on par with the other four major pro sports leagues,’’ Bilello said. “At the very least, by that time you could see it exceed one or two in terms of fan affinity and interest in the sport. When people look at MLS and the US national team, there’s so much interest in young adults, millennials and younger.

“That generation is going to grow up and get older and no one is going to argue the next generation isn’t going to be more interested in soccer. And the generation behind that one is going to be more interested. As our older adults are aging and there is a new generation coming in and players are coming in, there isn’t anyone looking at it and saying there is going to be less interest.’’

Any chance of a US women’s national team Victory Tour date at Gillette? The US women have a 7-0-1 record (28-1 goal differential), averaging 26,168 spectators, at Foxboro and Gillette Stadiums since 1998.

“We’ve had them here many times before and we’ve always supported them,’’ Bilello said of the women’s team. “We’re not a venue that looks at the World Cup and says now we want the women here. We’ve always wanted them and we want to get them back as soon as possible.’’