Report: Kraft Floats Idea of Public Funds for Stadium
- Updated: May 29, 2015
Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
Would the City of Boston help build the Revolution a new stadium?
According to a Boston Globe report on Friday, that very question was recently posed to Mayor Marty Walsh by Revolution owner/operator Robert Kraft.
The report, which cites an anonymous source, details that Kraft has floated the idea of the city building and owning a $200 million stadium for the Revolution. The debt would be repaid via an additional tax on game tickets.
However, Walsh has stated in the past – especially with respect to the city’s 2024 Olympic bid – that he is not a proponent of using taxpayer funds to finance sports stadiums. In the report, Walsh said his talks with Kraft about public funding are at square one.
“It’s really an idea right now,” Walsh told the Globe.
Two possible sites remain in play for a potential Revolution stadium: a site off of I-93 on Frontage Road, as well as Widett Circle.
The Commonwealth has shown itself especially reluctant to earmark public funds to build sports stadiums over the years. The TD Garden was privately financed by Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, while Gillette Stadium – the Revolution’s current home – was entirely funded by Kraft after he was unable to get assistance from the state.
During the late-1990s, the Boston Red Sox contemplated building a new ballpark until each of its proposals – all of which requested taxpayer assistance – were met with stiff resistance by city leaders. The club still plays in 103-year-old Fenway Park, the oldest baseball stadium in the country.
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