Miami and Boston stadium news

Miami and Boston stadium news: I heard Jason Davis talk about this last week on his "United States of Soccer" show on Sirius XM Channel 85. I don't get a chance to listen often so this was interesting to me.

Yes the newly renovated and variously named Miami Dolphins stadium, now named Hard Rock Stadium, does look a lot more like a European soccer stadium now, with a roof. And this is clearly aimed in part at attracting international soccer friendlies to the stadium, which is a money maker. But the stadium is far too big for MLS so there's no angle to this story for Beckham's Miami MLS bid, as far as I can see at the moment. The situation is not like Seattle or Atlanta, where you have NFL owners with an MLS team with an urban centrally located stadium. Hard Rock Stadium is not in downtown Miami, and the Miami Dolphins owners have shown no interest in Miami Beckham United. Lots of money to be made in Miami with international soccer friendlies; however, Miami has yet to demonstrate that it can support a local pro soccer club, which is a completely different animal from international soccer friendlies. Far too many of these investor types say "Miami is a gateway to Latin America" but have no idea about the actual local pro soccer club scene/history in Miami (which is not too good). That's not an issue that Hard Rock International has to worry about; but it is an issue of concern for both MLS and Miami Beckham United.  

As to Boston and the Fenway improvements, this is also clearly aimed in part at the international soccer friendly money making potential. I don't see any advantage to moving the Revs into Fenway, as that would alienate the current fanbase that drives to Gillette, to put them into an uncomfortable stadium not built for soccer with lousy viewing angles, which you can't easily drive to and park. The ideal new Revs stadium would have easy access both to a major Boston area public transit line, and also easy access to a major highway and parking. The proposed Dorchester site fits the bill, but we are a long way from seeing that happen and this search has been dragging on for a decade. The Revs are drawing okay at Gillette in spite of playing rather poorly; I don't see any move from Gillette until a new Revs SSS is built elsewhere, and/or new ownership buys the Revs from the Krafts, neither of which seems likely to happen any time soon. 

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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article96181627.html

August 17, 2016 2:05 PM

Dolphins’ deal with Hard Rock worth quarter of a billion

Hard Rock International chairman Jim Allen said the company had been approached about stadium naming rights deals in other markets but “this was the only one of interest to us, because of the location, the tribe being here, and Miami is a gateway to Latin America.”

Garfinkel announced that the Brazilian national soccer team will play six or seven games at Hard Rock Stadium over the next “several years,” and Real Madrid will play there against an undetermined opponent in the opener of the 2017 International Champions Cup.

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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2016/08/red_sox_owners_pitch_fenway_renovations

Red Sox owners pitch Fenway renovations

Plans call for $4M in upgrades

Donna Goodison, Bob McGovern Thursday, August 18, 2016

Owners of the Boston Red Sox are again eyeing an expansion at historic Fenway Park, with an estimated $4 million of plans for more dugout-area seating for fans, new suites, a right-field grandstand bar and a removable bullpen field wall so the park can fit regulation FIFA soccer and college 
football games.

Fenway Park’s existing stationary bullpen field wall would be replaced with a new removable wall to accommodate the regulation Federation Internationale de Football Association soccer pitch and college football field.

Red Sox principal owner John Henry also owns England’s Liverpool Football Club, a Premier League team. Fenway Park has hosted “friendly” exhibition matches featuring Liverpool and other European 
soccer giants.

The plans for a regulation FIFA pitch raise the question of whether Fenway’s owners could be open to hosting New England Revolution soccer games. The Kraft Group-owned Major League Soccer team is in a similar situation to the New York City Football Club, also an MLS team. Both are looking for new stadiums in their respective cities, and both have had problems finding a suitable place to break ground and build.

NYCFC currently plays at Yankee Stadium — the team is partly owned by New York Yankees owner Yankee Global Enterprises — while the Revolution play home games at the Kraft Group’s Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

The Revs are looking at the Boston market, and conceivably home games at a newly expanded Fenway would give the team an opportunity to introduce itself to the very market it seeks to join.