Kraft’s search for a soccer stadium continues.
Life has not been easy for Robert Kraft in his attempt to build a facility for his Major League Soccer New England Revolution franchise in the Boston area. Kraft has picked out a spot in Everett, Massachusetts to build his dream soccer stadium but yet another problem has crept up. The mayors of Boston and Everett are not on the same page as Kraft in building the venue. The land abuts Boston and there are those in the Charleston neighbor of Boston who are concerned about the stadium’s impact on their area. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wants an impact report while Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria wants a shovel in the ground to get the place built. Kraft has spent two decades looking for a stadium for his soccer business. Kraft wants to build a 25-thousand seat venue on a 43-acre piece of property that sits in Boston and in Everett along the Mystic River that houses a shuttered power plant.
In 2007, Kraft’s MLS business wanted to get a stadium built in Somerville but nothing came of that. Two years later Kraft looked at Somerville again but nothing happened. In 2014, Kraft wanted a stadium in South Boston. Nothing happened. Kraft eyed Dorchester in 2017 but negotiations to build a stadium fell through. In November 2017, Kraft’s son Jonathan, who is the president of the Kraft Group said, “we’re as optimistic as we’ve ever been that in 2018, we will have a piece of land that is in downtown Boston and we will be able to build a home for the Revolution on it.” That never happened. In 2022, Kraft started targeting Everett as a site for his soccer business. Kraft is still looking to break ground. Before breaking ground, the Kraft Group must sign a mitigation agreement with the City of Boston and that is a major problem.
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