FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In the end, the World Cup bailed out its Boston hosts.
New England had one of the most tumultuous journeys to get to the World Cup of any host region. The host committee struggled with fundraising, a small suburb threatened to not grant a license for the seven matches, and transportation to the stadium has been an expensive headache.
But once the actual soccer kicked off, Boston found itself at the heart of some of the World Cup’s best storylines. The Scottish descent upon the city for the first week of the tournament was one of the feel-good stories of the group stage before the team crashed out. “The best, best few days of my life,” remarked one Scottish fan. And on Monday, Gillette Stadium hosted the first penalty shootout of the tournament, a shocking Paraguay upset over Germany.
Boston’s World Cup troubles were national news this spring when the suburb of Foxborough, where Gillette Stadium sits, refused to give FIFA the entertainment license it needed to host matches until someone guaranteed $7.8 million in public safety costs. After a contentious back-and-forth between the town and host committee, as a Foxborough-imposed March deadline approached, Patriots owner Robert Kraft—who also owns the stadium—swooped in to backstop the payments. (Earlier this month, the situation soured once more as Kraft’s sports company and the Patriots sued the town for “repeatedly misusing its state-granted licensing authority unlawfully to extract funds” from them.)
During those talks with the town, the local host committee said it had just $2 million in its coffers, and expected an additional $30 million from public and commercial funding. The group also admitted it was having trouble fundraising, and its chief commercial officer stepped down months before the tournament. Compare that to Philadelphia, whose host committee told FOS it expected around $140 million in public and private funding by the end of the tournament.
As a result, the host committee’s Fan Fest did not come close to FIFA’s initial vision for all cities to have a centralized event running the whole length of the tournament, and shuttered at the end of the group stage.
The host committee said more than 155,000 fans from over 108 countries attended the 16-day Fan Fest at City Hall. It was far from the only city that cut back on its Fan Fest, though some hosts like Houston, Dallas, and Philadelphia were able to follow through on FIFA’s vision.
Getting to the Stadium
Perhaps the toughest part for fans attending matches in Boston has been getting to the stadium.
The majority of fans drive to Patriots games, but FIFA’s large security perimeter at all 16 World Cup venues eats up parking spots, which has created logistical headaches for stadiums like Boston’s that aren’t in dense urban downtowns.
The city’s roughly 22-mile direct train from downtown Boston to suburban Foxborough costs a hefty $80 for a roundtrip ticket, and has not been meeting its 20,000-fan capacity. A spokesperson for the transit agency told FOS that 10,657 tickets for the train to Monday’s match Paraguay–Germany were sold as of 2 p.m., or two and a half hours before kickoff, meaning riders only filled about half the train’s capacity, and about 17% of the stadium.
The host committee also provided a shuttle bus leaving from pick-up points throughout the region that costs fans $95 for round-trip service. A spokesperson for the host committee did not respond when asked about Monday’s bus ridership.
Many fans are getting to the stadium by car, and paying huge sums for parking within a mile or two of the venue. Davide from Dedham, Mass., told FOS he paid for official FIFA parking and spent $220 on Monday, after paying $175 for a previous match. “They make us pay four times what we pay when we come to see the Patriots,” he said.
Another fan named Mike who drove in from New Jersey told FOS he paid $100 to park in someone’s driveway, an option he found on social media.
Traffic has also been a factor, with congestion turning the road connecting the stadium and the highway into a parking lot after the match.
Though it’s a hike to get there, one perk of Kraft’s empire is Patriots Place, the district of shops, bars, and restaurants that surround the stadium. The development is a bit different from MetLife Stadium’s nearby American Dream mall, because it’s right at the stadium and more geared toward fans. Mike, a Germany fan from New Jersey, said he arrived around 11am and went to a hibachi restaurant before the match.
“I texted my family, I was like, ‘I feel like I’m at Disney World.’ But at MetLife, we don’t have that,” he said. “I don’t know why they picked us to have the [World Cup] final. It is the worst stadium that I’ve ever been to, and I’m from New Jersey.”
Boston’s Big Moments
Despite the turmoil, Boston still played host to some of the tournament’s best moments.
Scotland’s Tartan Army stormed the city for days, drinking bars dry and taking over Red Sox games. The supporters’ antics repeatedly went viral on social media from the moment fans in kilts arrived at Logan Airport complaining that they had run out of beer on their flight.
Fans dressed in kilts marched to the stadium behind bagpipes. After the Tartan Army left, The Boston Globe took out a full page to thank the supporters for turning “an ordinary June into something we’ll be talking about for years.” A few days later, the Tartan Army did the same in a Scottish newspaper, saying Boston “embraced us like long-lost cousins who turned up unannounced, drank all your beer, decorated your statues, and somehow remained welcome.”
Scotland had a chance to wind up back in Boston for the Round of 32, but failed to make it out of the group. That game, however, ended up being another moment for Boston with Germany–Paraguay.
William, a Paraguayan New Yorker, told FOS that Monday’s match was the first he attended for his home country in the tournament for a couple reasons. He said the World Cup was much less accessible than last summer’s Club World Cup because of ticket prices—he said he paid $700 for his ticket on Monday—and because he was afraid to travel because of immigration enforcement. Paraguay’s other games had all been in California, but he drove to the knockout game.
The lower-ranked South American side was helped by a controversial call that took back Germany’s go-ahead goal. The 1–1 match went into a penalty shootout, which Paraguay won 4–3, pulling off a massive upset over the four-time champions. It was the biggest stunner of the tournament yet.
The city also staged big group stage matches like England’s scoreless draw with Ghana, and a France masterclass against Norway.
Some fans said they scouted out Boston specifically for the city’s America250 celebrations. Joe from Texas told FOS his family chose Boston and Philadelphia for the anniversary festivities. “Boston exceeded our expectation,” he said. “We’ve been all over Boston, the energy, the vibe, the way they’ve handled all the traffic, really really done very well.”
The city has one more match left, a July 9 quarterfinal. Potential teams include France, Morocco, Paraguay, Canada, and Sweden. It’ll be one final chance for Boston to create some World Cup magic.
