A brand new skilled ladies’s soccer staff anticipated to take the pitch for the primary time in 2026 at Boston’s White Stadium was given a reputation on Tuesday, resulting in grumbling from opponents of town’s public-private plan to renovate the ability.
The staff identify, BOS Nation Soccer Membership, was introduced by Boston Unity Soccer Companions forward of a group occasion it deliberate to carry to mark the event later that night, alongside Mayor Michelle Wu and a lot of professional athletes, together with a brand new staff investor, Olympic champion gymnast Aly Raisman.
The chosen identify is an anagram for “Bostonian,” and an id that BUSP says “embodies the strength, creativity, and pride of the city of Boston, its unique blend of old and new, its famed diehard fans, and its generation of fans united by their love of the world’s beautiful game played by many of the best female athletes in the world.”
“This is an important moment for women’s sports in Boston — and for Bostonians to see that they are fully represented in the team name, brand identity, and even the tongue-in-cheek tone of the unveil campaign,” Jennifer Epstein, controlling proprietor of BOS Nation FC and Boston Unity Soccer Companions, mentioned in an announcement.
BOS Nation FC will kick off its inaugural season in 2026 because the fifteenth franchise of the Nationwide Ladies’s Soccer League.
The staff’s model unveiling was accompanied by its “Too Many Balls” marketing campaign that went stay on the identical day, with cameos from Boston sports activities legends and messaging “playfully pointing out that in a city filled with championships, its sports heroes need not all be male.”
The brand new staff is led by the core all-female possession group that includes BUSP, which incorporates Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry as an investor, together with the most recent traders, Raisman and actress and producer Elizabeth Banks, each of whom are Massachusetts natives and described as “hometown icons.”
“I grew up a Boston sports fan and have special memories of going to Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox and Patriots games with my dad,” Raisman mentioned in an announcement. “It’s so important for the kids to see themselves in their role models and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to support the growth of women’s soccer and sports in my hometown.”
Whereas the staff’s subsequent section was introduced to a lot fanfare on Tuesday, the identify change led to rapid grumbling from opponents of the mayor and Boston Unity’s public-private plan to renovate Franklin Park’s run-down White Stadium to make sure it’s match to deal with a brand new skilled sports activities franchise.
A lawsuit filed by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a gaggle of residents towards town and BUSP final February stays energetic — regardless of a Suffolk Superior Courtroom decide’s resolution final March to throw out an injunction meant to halt the venture — and is anticipated to go to trial in March 2025.
The plaintiffs within the lawsuit have argued that town and BUSP’s public-private plan to revive and use Franklin Park’s White Stadium constitutes an unconstitutional privatization of the land, and that redevelopment plans would largely displace Boston Public College student-athletes and group members who recurrently use the park and stadium.
Mayor Wu has disputed privatization claims previously as “either a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation,” and has mentioned that the renovation plan will end in elevated use of the dilapidated stadium for BPS student-athletes.
“An 11,000-seat private sports and entertainment complex does not belong in a public park, and the team still has no plan to address the significant environmental impact this major development project would have,” Renee Stacy Welch, an abutter and plaintiff within the lawsuit, mentioned in a Tuesday assertion. “That’s why we’re asking state officials to step in and provide legally-required environmental review, and prevent an environmental injustice in Boston’s largest public park.”
“The plan to tear down White Stadium and rebuild it as a private sports and entertainment complex is fatally flawed, and a new team name won’t change that,” Stacy Welch added. “Franklin Park and surrounding communities can’t handle the thousands of new car trips a professional soccer stadium would generate, and restrictions on public access to Franklin Park would hurt our community’s ability to enjoy the park.”
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