Boston is set to roll out the welcome mat for soccer fans from around the globe for the World Cup, while the town hosting the premier event is threatening to withhold an essential license.
Boston’s City Hall Plaza has been selected as the official FanFest site for the seven World Cup matches scheduled at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro between June 13 and July 9.
Officials organizing festivities around the global soccer spectacle say they expect the tournament to bring in over 2 million international visitors to Massachusetts.
City Hall Plaza will be a primary gathering spot for fans to watch games and take in related activities if they aren’t heading to Gillette to catch the action in person.
Mayor Michelle Wu says her administration is also planning to boost the city’s annual block-party grants to allow watch parties and festivities to take place across Boston’s neighborhoods.
“Hosting the World Cup is a fantastic opportunity to show (off) our entire city and the best of Boston to the people from all around the world who will be showing up,” Wu said in announcing City Hall Plaza as the FanFest site, “and to highlight the small businesses and our local communities and neighbors who make up our city every day.”
This comes as the town of Foxboro has warned that it will not issue an entertainment license for the World Cup at Gillette without more than $7 million in grant funding for security, which it has requested.
That money would come from a pool of over $47 million the state has received from the feds, earmarked for safety and security in the 11 cities hosting matches across the country.
Foxboro Select Board Chairman Bill Yukna said last week that the town would “stand behind” its request of $7.7 million to cover “manpower and capital expense items” needed to pull off the World Cup at Gillette.
The town has set a deadline of March 17 for Boston 26, the nonprofit organizing committee, to meet its request in full.
“This event is not Foxboro’s event; it’s an international event,” Yukna said last week. “It is not up to the town of Foxboro to support or pay for any of this. As our (fire and police) chiefs are the ones responsible for the security and safety of the facilities, their needs need to be met, or this cannot be an event that moves forward.”
Boston 26 CEO Mike Loynd said Tuesday he is in frequent communication with officials from Foxboro, FIFA, and the Kraft Group, which operates Gillette Stadium. He expressed confidence that all issues will be resolved sooner rather than later.
“The licensing process is always difficult,” Loynd said. “The answer is that I’m comfortable that we’ll be there.”
Martha Sheridan, CEO and president of Meet Boston, said the matches are expected to generate over $1 billion in local economic impact, including $100 million in tax revenue and over 9,000 jobs.
The state Legislature last year approved $10 million to support World Cup-related transportation, public safety, wayfinding and signage, services for individuals with disabilities, equity, inclusion and sustainability efforts, and volunteer support costs. That money is deposited in the Sports and Entertainments Events Fund administered by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
“It’s a huge, huge opportunity for all of us,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “And so as a result, you can imagine we’ve been coordinating extensively, making sure the transportation is set, security is set.”
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
