On Monday it was officially announced that a USL Championship franchise would be coming to the City of Pawtucket. This possibility has been discussed by myself since 2017 and the USL and the respective parties have been in contact since April of 2019.
While the team which has a name TBD doesn’t kick off until 2022 the whole project comes in at an estimated $400 million. Of course that number comes with it the residential, commercial, event center, and hotel within it but building a 7.500 seat soccer stadium isn’t cheap.
Thankfully with soccer expansion at an all-time high their is a lot of comparisons that can be made. The closest team to the new Pawtucket side would be the Hartford Athletics which just completed its inaugural season. Hartford plays at a revamped Dillion Field. That means that they took an existing complex and built it up, something that is not available in Downtown Pawtucket. That being said Hartford and various parties donated $10 million to get that pitch and the surrounding facilities up to professional grade.
- Real Monarchs SLC spent $78 million on a 5,000 seat facility in Utah that opened in 2018.
- Louisville City FC spent $67 million, +$17 million to budget on their new 14,000 seat stadium which is set to open in 2020.
- Londoun United built a 5,000 seat facility that opened in early 2019 for $15 million in Northern Virginia.
It is unclear how much of the $400 million will be spent on the soccer stadium. Even at 7,500 seats the needed infrastructure (roads, parking, etc.) will likely drive the cost of the Pawtucket stadium to be more in line with the Louisville or Real Monarchs complex.
As a quick comparison the current budget for Triple-A Worcesters new ballpark is $86 to $100 million.
More to come on the stadium and team info as they come along.
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