Boston Legacy FC Looking at Positives of Playing at Gillette Stadium

"I think the fact that we play at Gillette is positive, because it's a stadium that everybody knows. It's a stadium that's going to be used for the Men's World Cup. It's the best in class."

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

Boston Legacy FC will play its inaugural season at Gillette Stadium in 2026 but the club is looking forward to making the most of its makeshift home.

After renovations to White Stadium faced delays due to litigation brought on by the Emerald Necklace Conservatory, the stadium would not be ready for the 2026 NWSL season. While White Stadium could be functional come the middle of next summer, a midseason venue shift was deemed “impractical” by the club.

While the move to Foxboro might be viewed as a letdown, club officials don’t think the club will suffer.

“We think Gillette offers us a great opportunity to introduce 1000s and 1000s of fans to women's soccer,” BLFC chief revenue officer Amina Bulman said. “Gillette is a world-class stadium. It's gonna be where the Men's World Cup is played next year. So we think it's a great venue for us to introduce ourselves on a global stage.”

On the field, general manager Domènec Guasch doesn’t think playing at Gillette Stadium will cause any issues. The GM even thinks that playing in Foxboro will be a positive.

“I think the fact that we play at Gillette is a positive, because it's a stadium that everybody knows. It's a stadium that's going to be used for the Men's World Cup. It's the best in class. Like there's no better stadium of a better standard in the city of Boston. So, yeah, that's actually helpful. It's going to be also very exciting, because we're sort of going to have two expansion years, one at Gillette and the next one at White Stadium, so it's like two things to look forward in the upcoming years.”

Of course, Gillette Stadium is well known for being the home of the New England Patriots as well as hosting the New England Revolution. It also has a turf surface that will be replaced with grass for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Only two NWSL stadiums have turf, while PayPal Stadium has hybrid grass.

While the club now has a crest, it has yet to sign a head coach as well as any players. According to Guasch, announcements regarding a head coach and its first-ever player should come in the next few weeks.

NWSL recently announced the roster-building assets that Boston Legacy FC has received to form its inaugural roster. Boston received access to $1,065,000 in allocation money to begin spending on July 1, 2025, with 50 percent of funds provided by the league. It will have until December 31, 2027, to use all funded allocation money.

These will help Guasch and company navigate a new landscape when it comes to expansion NWSL sides. No longer can new clubs rely on an expansion draft to build their squad.

“It is a complex process now, with the new CBA in the league, where we don't have certain expansion assets that were available in the past, like being able to grab players from other teams and and having a college draft and whatnot, but at the same time, it basically allows us to go for the players that we truly want,” said Guasch. “We need to invest more resources in scouting and recruitment, and obviously, then we need to convince those players to come here, to show them why Boston is the place to be for them.”