What Does Robert Kraft Think About New Boston Area-Stadium?

Robert Kraft has wanted to build a new stadium for the New England Revolution in Everett for quite some time. What's preventing the New England Patriots and Revs chair from achieving his vision?

According to Kraft, politics are standing in the way.

Speaking at the NFL league meetings in Florida, Kraft said he wants to construct a stadium for the Revolution in Everett through private funding. He aims to take a similar approach for the soccer team to how he built a “100% private” stadium for the Patriots.

MassLive reported Kraft's further observations about politics getting in the way of his plans:

“I go back, I think back to when I bought the Patriots. I'd gone out to St. Louis and met with James Orthwein and knew we had a stadium that was inadequate. I called the then-governer [Bill Weld] and said, ‘I'm going to keep the team from moving to St. Louis. But I need your commitment that you're going to help me get a stadium in downtown Boston.‘ And he said, ‘I'm there. You're in.' And, of course, we all know what happened. And the political environment here is a little different.

“We're willing to do this privately financed stadium in Everett, but politics takes over in Beantown, unlike most places.... We just need the political people and get all the agendas putting team first. And we hope it happens, but we can't force it.”

The current Revolution plan is to construct a stadium that will accommodate up to 25,000 people on 43 acres of land at 173 Alford St. The land is the site of the former Mystic Generating Station along the Mystic River.

Boston.com noted that to build a stadium on the Everett land parcel, the Revolution had to work with local lawmakers to receive a specific carveout on a Designated Port Area. This restriction previously prohibited any building on the site that wasn't related to industrial port usage. After several years of failures, the provision was included in legislation passed in late 2024.

The Boston.com report further noted that Mayor Michelle Wu stated she has not heard directly from Kraft about the proposal.

“Things really haven't kicked off very much in terms of substantive conversations because there really hasn't been that much to discuss from the project proponents: We haven't really seen specific details,” Wu explained to residents during a March community meeting in Charlestown about the Everett stadium proposal. “To this date, I still have not gotten a call from the Krafts.… There's been just radio silence.”