The Revolution will attempt to win the franchise's first MLS Cup on Sunday against the Galaxy at StubHub Center, and if the club does "savor the taste of their first championship," F Charlie Davies believes that it would "lead to a number of tangible benefits for a club that has largely flown under the radar" since its '96 inception, according to Brian O'Connell of ESPN BOSTON. Davies: "Maybe a new stadium, maybe more fans, and obviously more revenue for the club. So it would be an amazing accomplishment to be able to do that." O'Connell noted while a new stadium in Boston proper "would do wonders to raise the team's profile alongside the Big Four in the long run, Revolution president Brian Bilello still sees the immediate value that a title would bring to the Revolution" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 12/4). In Boston, Christopher Gasper writes this MLS Cup appearance "is extra sweet" for the Kraft family, as it "comes eight months after a Boston Magazine article called them the worst owners in MLS and painted an unflattering picture of the Krafts as neglectful and penurious owners happy to let the Revolution languish in the shadows of Patriot Place." That reputation "was fueled by an unwillingness to use the designated player salary cap exemption on a big-money signing." Team President Jonathan Kraft: "We always said we were waiting to sign a DP who would move the needle on the pitch and be special off it as well. ... If you look across the history of designated players in our league, very few are (where) it’s gray. They either made a huge difference on the pitch or off the pitch or they were a waste of resources. We had come close a couple of times to players that fit the bill for us and at the end we just couldn’t consummate the deal" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/5).
DESIGNATED DRIVER:
Kraft on Thursday addressed how the addition of MF Jermaine Jones as a designated player has helped the club. Kraft, speaking on WBZ-AM, said of Jones, "From a commercial sense, (he) absolutely elevated it there as well. We saw it with ticket sales, sponsorship and I think general interest and awareness in the Revs." Kraft said signing Jones gave the Revolution new sponsorship interests in the same week and added, “Ticket sales, sponsorships, next year’s season tickets are pacing incredibly well at levels that are extremely strong. ... I would expect that Jermaine, if you take what he does from a wins-and-losses standpoint and what he’s done from a visibility, commercial and community standpoint, (would be) more than it would be if I were to look back and calculate what we spent on him in dollar terms. Did we get a return for that? Absolutely" (
"Felger & Massarotti," WBZ-AM, 12/4).
KRAFTS EYEING STADIUM PARTNER? In Boston, Deirdre Fernandes cited an anonymous company as saying that the Krafts approached it "about potential naming rights and other sponsorship opportunities." This comes despite the fact that team Owner Robert Kraft "hasn’t publicly acknowledged his interest in building a soccer stadium in South Boston" for the Revolution. In its solicitation to the company, the Kraft organization said that it "will eventually be looking for corporate sponsors" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/4). Kraft during Friday's radio appearance said the team is “still working on” plans for a new stadium, but added that a time frame was not definite. Kraft: “We’d love to be in Boston. I think Mayor Walsh has said publicly that he’s open to the idea of a soccer-specific stadium in the city. That wasn’t the case in the prior administration. ... We’ll talk about it when we have something. ... If Gillette was in downtown Boston, we could actually make it work in Gillette because I think we could create a similar type of environment where you’re pushing 45,000, 50,000 a game in a big venue" ("Felger & Massarotti," WBZ-AM, 12/4).
