Cityline: Bringing soccer to the city

WOMEN’S SPORTS FANDOM IS ON THE RISE WITH EPIC VIEWING NUMBERS FOR THE NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. THE NEW WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE, AND NOW THE EXPANSION OF THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE. RIGHT HERE IN BOSTON. THE STILL TO BE NAMED TEAM WAS MET WITH MUCH EXCITEMENT AND TREPIDATION OVER THE ANNOUNCED SITE FOR THE GAMES. WHITE STADIUM IN ROXBURY, A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO RENOVATE THE STADIUM IS GETTING PUSHBACK FROM COMMUNITY GROUPS AMONG THEIR CONCERNS. PUBLIC ACCESS, TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC CONCERNS, AND LIMITING USE OF THE SPACE BY THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS. WELL, JOINING US TODAY ARE JENNIFER EPSTEIN. SHE’S THE CONTROLLING OWNER OF NWSL BOSTON AND LINDA WHITLOCK, ONE OF THE MINORITY OWNERS OF NWSL BOSTON. WELCOME TO YOU BOTH, JENNIFER. LET’S START BY TALKING ABOUT WHY WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM IN BOSTON NOW, WHEN TEAMS LIKE THE BOSTON BREAKERS FAILED IN THE PAST, WHAT’S DIFFERENT? WHAT’S NEW? WELL, AS YOU SAID, UH, WOMEN’S SPORTS, IT’S MORE THAN A MOMENT. IT’S A MOVEMENT. AND AND, UH, YOU KNOW, INTEREST, ATTENDANCE AND VIEWERSHIP IS OFF THE CHARTS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IN THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE, THE LEAGUE HAS BROKEN ATTENDANCE RECORDS. AND AS YOU REFERENCED, YOU KNOW, VIEWERSHIP FOR THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, UH, EXCEEDED 18 MILLION VIEWERS. THE MOST WATCHED WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME SINCE 2019. SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WHEN VIEWERS CAN SEE THE PRODUCT, THE PRODUCT’S EXCEPTIONAL AND AND THEY’RE REALLY EXCITED TO BE THERE. AND SO, YOU KNOW, NOW IS REALLY THE TIME TO BRING THIS BACK TO BOSTON TO CAPTURE THAT EXCITEMENT AND MOMENTUM. YOU KNOW, OUR INITIAL DATA SHOWS THAT HERE IN BOSTON WITH OUR FIVE STORIED LEGACY TEAMS, THERE’S HISTORICALLY BEEN A GAP IN THE WOMEN’S SPORTS SCENE. AND AND OUR DATA SHOWS WILL COMPLETE THE GAP. THIS WILL FILL THE GAP, THE GAP. AND OUR DATA SHOWS THAT ACTUALLY HERE IN BOSTON, WE HAVE AN ABOVE AVERAGE INTEREST IN WOMEN’S SPORTS AND ABOVE AVERAGE INTEREST IN SOCCER. SO THE TIME IS RIGHT TO BRING IT BACK NOW LINDA. RIGHT NOW, WHITE STADIUM, WHICH WAS BUILT IN 1945, IS IN NEED OF SOME MAJOR REPAIRS AND HAS BEEN FOR FOR MANY YEARS. WHAT BENEFITS WILL THE COMMUNITY SEE FROM THE PARTNERSHIP ONCE THE FACILITY IS REVIVED? WELL, WE REALLY DO SEE THIS AS A TRUE PUBLIC PRIVATE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP. AND SO THAT MEANS THAT THE COMMUNITY WILL BENEFIT FROM HAVING A REVITALIZED AND RESTORED GEM OF A STADIUM IN BEAUTIFUL FRANKLIN PARK FOR THE BENEFIT NOT ONLY OF OUR TEAM BEING ABLE TO PLAY HOME GAMES, THERE ABOUT 20 A SEASON, BUT BUT ALSO FOR BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT ATHLETES WHO HAVE BEEN, UH, PLAYING IN A, A, A, A, A LESS THAN A LESS THAN ADEQUATE, SHALL WE SAY, A LESS THAN SAFE AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY ACCESSIBLE STATE EHIEM IT ALSO WILL BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE ALL OF ITS PREVIOUS USES OF THE STADIUM FESTIVALS AND GRADUATIONS AND EVENTS GET TO THAT. I WANT TO ASK BOTH OF YOU SEVERAL NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PUBLIC PRIVATE REDEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP, ASKING QUESTIONS AT COMMUNITY FORUMS THAT HAVE BEEN HOSTED BY YOUR TEAM AND THE CITY OF BOSTON. THE EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY IS SUING, TRYING TO STOP YOUR GROUP. BOSTON UNITY SOCCER PARTNERS FRANKLIN PARK DEFENDERS CLAIMS IT SUPPORTS A FULL RENOVATION, BUT SAYS FRANKLIN PARK IS PUBLIC LAND AND A PROTECTED OPEN SPACE, AND THAT THE PROJECT HAS BEEN RUSHED AND NOT PROPERLY VETTED. JENNIFER, WHAT’S YOUR RESPONSE? WELL, WE FEEL VERY CONFIDENT UNDER THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK, UNDER WHICH WE ARE WORKING, THERE WAS A JUDGE WHO WROTE A 32 PAGE DECISION IN RESPONSE TO A MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION, SHERBORN, WHERE SHE INDICATED THAT THERE WAS NOT A LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS ON THE MERITS OF THOSE CLAIMS. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE WORKING HARD TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY. THIS IS REALLY A PUBLIC, PRIVATE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP. AND, YOU KNOW, A COMMUNITY INPUT THROUGH THIS PROCESS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO TO US. WE’RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO LET THAT INFORM OUR PLANS AND EVOLVE THEM TO MITIGATE CONCERNS, CONCERNS. AND, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO MENTION, I THINK IN YOUR INTRO, YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A CONCERN ABOUT LESS HOURS FOR THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS. AND ACTUALLY IT’S GOING TO TRIPLE THE NUMBER OF PROGRAMING HOURS FOR THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, AND IT’S GOING TO GREATLY EXPAND COMMUNITY ACCESS TO THE STADIUM FOR MANY MORE HOURS. THE STADIUM IS GOING TO BE OPEN. AND, YOU KNOW, IN OUR PRESENCE REALLY IS LESS THAN 10% OF THE TIME AT THE STADIUM. OKAY. NOW, YES. IF I COULD JUST ADD ONE OTHER THING. OVER THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF, WE’VE HAD OVER 180 MEETINGS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH COMMUNITY RESIDENTS, WITH NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, WITH NONPROFIT ASSETS IN THE AREA, AND OF COURSE, LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS. AND WE’VE BEEN HEARTENED BY THE RESPONSE SINCE, WHICH HAS BEEN ONE OF EXCITEMENT AND ANTICIPATION. CLEARLY, THERE HAVE BEEN QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS RAISED AS WELL, BUT WE HAVE GOTTEN PRETTY GOOD AT LISTENING. IT’S ALWAYS TOUGH GETTING THESE BIG PROJECTS THROUGH, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU GUYS INTEND TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY AND HISTORY OF THE PARK? AND FREDERICK OLMSTED’S DESIGNS? HOW’S THAT BEEN ADDRESSED? THAT’S A GREAT QUESTION. AND, YOU KNOW, WE JUST FINISHED A SERIES OF THREE DESIGN PUBLIC DESIGN MEETINGS, AND WE LET EACH OF THE, YOU KNOW, MEETING ONE INFORM MEANING TWO, WHICH INFORMED MEETING THREE. SO WE LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY INPUT. AND ACTUALLY THIS COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROCESS WITH THE CITY INVOLVED, REED HILDEBRAND, WHICH IS THE ARCHITECTURE FIRM THAT WAS BEHIND THE FRANKLIN PARK ACTION PLAN. SO THE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED’S OLMSTED’S PRINCIPLES AND, YOU KNOW, THE GUIDANCE OF OF REED HILDEBRAND WAS REALLY INSTRUMENTAL IN CRITICAL TO MAKING SURE THAT WE DO JUST THAT RESPECT THE HISTORY AND INCORPORATE THAT IN ITS FUTURE. ALL RIGHT. QUICK ANSWER FROM YOU. WE JUST HAD A BOSTON HOCKEY TEAM REACH THE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS WITHOUT A NAME. WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT TO HAVE A NAME FOR YOUR TEAM? WE ARE WORKING HARD BEHIND THE SCENES AND WE WILL ROLL THAT OUT IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, SPORTS TEAMS AT THEIR CORE ARE COMMUNITY ASSETS. SO OUR TEAM NAMES AND BRANDS. SO JUST LIKE WE ARE INCORPORATING COMMUNITY INPUT INTO THE DESIGN OF, YOU KNOW, THE NAMING AS WELL FACILITY, WE ARE GOING TO, UH, THINK ABOUT INCORPORATING THE COMMUNITY INTO THE BUILD OUT OF OUR BRAND. EXCELLENT. LINDA JENNIFER. THANK YOU. IT’S VERY COMPLICATED TOPIC. WE’LL HAVE YOU BACK. I’M SURE, FOR, UH. NOW, LISTEN, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 2026 TO WATCH SOCCER IN THE CITY OF BOSTON. JULY 13TH, THE BOSTON UNITY CUP WILL CELEBRATE FIVE YEARS OF PLAY AT CARTER FIELDS IN ROXBURY. THE TOURNAMENT, WHICH RUNS OVER THE SUMMER, FEATURES OVER 30 UNIQUE COUNTRIES AND REGIONS THAT WILL COMPETE IN A TOURNAMENT THAT HONORS OUR CITY’S DIVERSITY THROUGH SPORT AND WCVB IS