Rhode Island Courting a Stadium Deal for the Revolution

What if the New England Revolution moved to Rhode Island?

A recent report from Providence Eyewitness News claims that state officials have been in talks to move the Revs to Rhode Island. Central Falls Mayor James Diossa and Providence's Economic Development Director are named as people that have had preliminary dialogue with Revolution personnel.

The discussions come on the heels of the Revolution's US Open Cup game at Stevenson Field on the campus of Brown University. A crowd of 1,570 gathered to watch the Revs down the Rochester Rhinos 2-1. It should also be noted that World Cup season is a period where soccer receives heightened interest from Americans around the country.

The article lists the large amount of diversity and impressive World Cup ratings as reasons that the Revs should consider a move to Rhode Island. The state is home to a sizable amount of South Americans, Central Americans and Africans. It was also the eighth largest market for the US-Ghana meeting (8.4 overnight rating), sixth highest for the fixture against Portugal (11.2) and ninth highest for the game against Germany (7.6).

It should be noted that the Revs have a dedicated fan base in Rhode Island. The Rebellion, a Revolution supporter's group, regularly hosts watch parties at RiRa and Spats Pub often draws large crowds for U.S. national team games.

Talks are obviously in the early stages and the article notes that neither Central Falls nor Providence currently have a stadium that the Revs could use. The development of a soccer specific stadium would take land, time and money. Still, it's promising that state officials are openly talking about their desire to bring professional soccer to their state. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh recently stated that would consider building a stadium in the city.

With the U.S. national team officially out of the World Cup, it will be interesting to see if cities continue to talk about housing the Revs.