Boston Globe CEO Linda Henry Leaves NWSL Ownership Group 

Media executive Linda Pizzuti Henry is backing out of her investment in Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the ownership group behind the 2026 NWSL expansion club in Boston, she announced in an Instagram post Friday.

Henry is the CEO of Boston Globe Media, the entity which runs the Boston Globe, Boston.com, and Stat News. She co-owns Boston Globe Media with her husband John Henry, principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, which has controlling stakes in the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

“In December, I officially notified the Boston NWSL team that I would be exiting the investor group,” Linda Henry said in her post Friday. “We are working together and expect to complete the process soon, and I will then just be a Boston Fan, not part of the BosNation team in any way.”

Linda Henry said she had “happily joined as a limited, passive investor when the group was forming.” 

“I remain very excited about the growth and future of women’s sports in Boston and beyond,” her post concluded.

Boston’s NWSL team still has several well-known minority shareholders after Linda Henry’s departure, including Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, actress Elizabeth Banks, and Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his wife Tracy. Both Raisman and Banks are from the Boston area.

“We want to thank Linda for her early investment into bringing professional women’s soccer back to Boston,” Boston Unity Sports Group told FOS in a statement. “Our ownership group continues to grow and we’re excited about what’s to come as we kick off in 2026.”

Controversy Around Boston NWSL Team 

Linda Henry’s announcement is the latest bump in a rocky road since the NWSL awarded an expansion franchise to Boston Unity Soccer Partners, led by managing partners Jennifer Epstein (a Boston Celtics minority owner), Stephanie Connaughton, Ami Danoff, and Anna Palmer. 

The club is currently reevaluating its previously announced name, Bos Nation FC, after a disastrous rollout that centered around an ad campaign entitled “Too Many Balls.” The campaign, meant to critique the city’s male-dominated sports scene, was ripped as shortsighted and transphobic, eliciting an apology from the team.

Boston Unity Soccer Partners also faces scrutiny over its agreement with the City of Boston to remodel and lease publicly-owned White Stadium in the southwestern part of the city to make it the club’s home arena.

The stadium project is partially funded by taxpayers and is the subject of a lawsuit seeking to halt the renovation amid ballooning costs and opposition from some residents near the stadium. 

That case is now set for trial in March after a judge refused in March 2024 to grant an injunction halting the project.

Boston city operations chief Dion Irish testified before the Boston City Council in January that the publicly funded half of the project had grown to over $100 million, sparking further outrage. The 12-person council was deadlocked 6-6 over a proposal to support an immediate pause in the project after Irish’s testimony.

The Boston Unity Sports Fund says in a fact sheet that the club is covering over 50% of White Stadium renovation costs for less than 5% of its use (calculated hourly), with the majority of use reserved for community and Boston Public Schools student access, along with an additional pledge to invest $5 million over ten years in “local organizations and initiatives.”

“White Stadium construction is proceeding at an accelerated timeline in preparation for our inaugural season in 2026,” Boston Unity Sports Group said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “As indicated by the judge’s ruling last March, there is no legal basis to challenge this public-private-community partnership to revitalize the stadium. We remain confident that there is no legal foundation for this case and are proud to be part of a project that honors the legacy of White Stadium, ensuring it will continue to be a vital part of our community for future generations.”

Impact on Boston Mayoral Race, Kraft Family Involvement

There is also growing political opposition to the White Stadium renovation project, including from philanthropist Josh Kraft, who is vying to unseat incumbent Boston mayor Michelle Wu in this fall’s mayoral election. Wu is a staunch supporter of the plan to renovate White Stadium, a 75-year-old outdoor arena sitting just over 10,000 that has been in disrepair for years and primarily hosts high school football games and community events. 

Wu’s administration says the stadium will remain city-owned once the project is complete, and that the city will collect rent from the team and increase available hours for public use by 400%. 

Mayor Wu doubled down on her public support for the project after the Boston Globe reported in December that it had gone more than $100 million over budget, raising the taxpayer burden from an initial estimate of $50 million to $91 million. 

Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has repeatedly attacked the project and Wu’s support of it since launching his mayoral campaign in early February. After attending multiple community meetings and rallies opposing the current White Stadium renovation plan, Kraft issued a lengthy statement calling on Wu to immediately halt further demolition to the stadium until “the legal process is resolved.”

“Many community members expressed significant concerns about the $100 million in taxpayer money pledged to the project that will primarily benefit a private interest, the potential loss of over 140 trees and two acres of green space, the impact of increased congestion and pollution in their neighborhood, and the fear that the Mayor and the private investors behind this effort are going to move forward with demolition before the courts can rule on significant legal challenges that have been raised,” Kraft said.

Kraft previously oversaw his family’s philanthropic efforts before resigning as president of the New England Patriots Foundation to focus on his mayoral bid. 

The Kraft family also owns the MLS’s New England Revolution, who currently play at the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, and has long tried to build its own soccer-specific stadium for the club closer to Boston.

The latest potential development in the nearby suburb of Everett passed a major governmental hurdle when language clearing the way for a soccer stadium there was included in the final version of an economic development bill that passed the Massachusetts State Legislature late last year.