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Given new information emailed to us, this stadium may NOT be the location of a relocated Revs.Our anonymous informant who tipped us off to the whole mystery club that might be relocating has sent us another email with further details:
other new info on sale & relocation of original mls franchise. new owner regards mls better buy-in than new pro grid league. initial $$$ greater but so is stability & growth potential. sale announced by late first quarter 2009. team plays 2009 mls season present location w/ usoc & superliga matches new location. full move for 2010. partnership between new owner & govt to renovate 20,000 seat facility as sss possibly part of long term plan in new location.
Many have suggested the club in question is the New England Revolution. They would be sold to the Hartford, CT based Northlands Investment Group. Northlands manages both Rentschler Field & the Hartford Civic Center along with AEG & wanted a United Football League team in Rentschler. They've also proposed building a $250 million arena in order to land a new NHL team so they seemed like a decent fit to the rumor riddle. However one detail from the information above would seem to rule out Rentschler Field as that facility currently seats 40,000 if read one way. If read another it could suggest a move to Rentschler Field with a move to a 20,000 seat facility later. So the mystery continues....
so you know nothing
If the revs move farther away ill be pissed...id give them my first born if they stay in foxbourgh or moves closer to boston
This sounds like someone jerking your chain. Yesterday it was to be announced by the start of '09. Now its "first quarter". The Rent is out so where in Hartford could they play? And if it isn't the Revs who else does the rumor fit?
MLSR - Read your e-mail more carefully. Your source is suggesting that Rentschler Field would be the initial Revs stadium with a 20,000 seater as the "long-term" goal.
I'll have more on this later either here or on Big Soccer, I've been snooping around a little bit...
This sounds like someone jerking your chain. Yesterday it was to be announced by the start of '09. Now its "first quarter".
Nowhere in the original rumor we posted did it say that it would be announced by the start of '09.
MLSR - Read your e-mail more carefully. Your source is suggesting that Rentschler Field would be the initial Revs stadium with a 20,000 seater as the "long-term" goal.
I'll have more on this later either here or on Big Soccer, I've been snooping around a little bit...
Good point and nice catch. You are quite right.
The new rumor doesn't necessarily rule Hartford out. The informant said that renovation of a 20,000-seat facility is "possibly part of a long term plan". POSSIBLY. LONG TERM. Northland/AEG could decide that Rentschler is more than adequate to host MLS. Then again they could team with local government to renovate someplace like Dillon Stadium in Hartford as a more intimate soccer specific stadium.
"Nowhere in the original rumor we posted did it say that it would be announced by the start of '09."
Ummm... yes, it did...
"original mls investor will announce sale of franchise by first of year."
So, it's been two days, and the sale has already been pushed back three months? And if Kraft really does want out, why wouldn't he put the team on the open market rather than selling directly to Northlands before he knows how much the team is worth? And if the sale is this close, why are the Revs still advertising for their "Holiday Pack" on major Boston radio stations?
KaptPowers is right - this "rumor" is crap.
"So it's been two days, and the sale has already been pushed back three months?" That's about right when it comes to MLS sales and relocations, right? The famous "60 to 90 days". LOL Seriously though, sale could happen tomorrow with an announcement coming at the end of the first quarter. The date of the sale announcement being postponed don't mean that the sale isn't happening.
the new email says that superliga matches will be played in the new location, and neither chicago nor kc are moving, so it's either chivas or the revs, you have to think it's prob the revs.
Is there any possibility relocation to Hartford isn't what's going on? Any chance that it is more a shift towards a relocation closer to Boston proper? How well-suited is Harvard Stadium for MLS?
@Mike - Harvard Stadium will already be home to the Breakers & the Cannons.
For what it's worth, I'm currently working in the NE soccer world and this is the first I've heard of this rumor...
First off no one will drive to Conn from NH,VT,MN or MA to go to a revolution game in Hartford. So $$$ wise it makes no sense. Revolution are not leaving Gillette until they get new digs outside of Boston.
If any team is moving its Houston. No stadium, no money, and they are having a fire sale and announced no DP.
Besides Rentschler Field (40,000), there is a small stadium in Hartford that I supposed could be renovated (Dillon Stadium...capacity maybe 7,000 currently) or Veteran's Memorial Stadium (7,000), where the Rev's have played USOC matches
I've lived in Boston all my life and have been a Revs fan since the beginning. THe first time I read the first rumor I felt it pointed towards the Revs and was surprised that no one else had thought so. Honestly, I think it is as dumb a decision as MLS could make. But I wouldn't put it by them or Kraft. I would love to see Kraft sell the team and have them move closer to Boston. Anywhere in the city, eastie, southie, or somerville makes so much sense. Hartford? Not so much. THat would kill any chance of high attendance and would cut off a huge soccer market directly north of Boston that is already being ignored by playing in Foxboro. Move the Revs to the city? Golden opportunity. Soccer fans across the country will see a dismal fan base turn into one comparable to Houston's, Toronto's or Chicago's. Move it to Hartford? another Kansas City circa 2006
Smart decision for MLS would be if this were Chivas moving somewhere else in the SoCal, PHX or Vegas.
Bad decision would be the Revolution moving closer to NYC rather than closer to Boston.
Expand the TV footprint of the league, don't shrink it Garber.
Trouble is that metro Boston is thickly populated. It is very very tough to find land needed to build stadium without inconvenienceing people living near by. Southie = will never happen. Eastie = a little better chance but probly not. Somerville = ain't gonna happen either. Plus land in boston is very very expensive.
^Forget the TV footprint strategy, go where you're going to be able to get asses in the seats. TV footprint is a bad strategy.
I'm glad you read you own posts so closely, MLSR. As was pointed out the original rumor DID mention this being announced by the end of 2008.
The Revs do play US Open Cup matches in Connecticut, however they play them in "hard hittin'" New Britain. They are sparsely attended affairs (save your jokes) although the Midnight Riders and others make the drive down. Our GM Craig Tornberg infamously told the Hartford Courant on June 25th that the games were held in NB as to avoid "oversaturating" the fans at Gillette due to all the extra games to be played in the SuperLiga. He claims to have been misquoted but who knows.
Expansion NHL team? Complete Joke. UFL Team. Complete Joke. In this financial market!!! NHL is dead, no one in the United States wants a team let alone expand the market.
This rumor is complete bullshit.
Moving to Hartford makes sense in terms of Northlands/AEG/The Rent connections, but every pro franchise that has ever moved here has either relocated or folded (footy's MSL Hellions, NASL Bicentennials, USL Conn. Wolves; various minging indoor football and basketball teams; and, most noteably NHL Hartford Whalers). It's a graveyard for pro sports.
Unless Northlands/AEG is in for the long haul, I can't see it working.
I'd go see the Revs regularly, though, and the Rent is a good place to watch footy!