NWSL expansion team Boston Legacy gets White Stadium court win

A Superior Court Justice on Wednesday ruled that the renovation of White Stadium, the future home of Boston Legacy FC in the NWSL, is not in violation of state law.

Judge Matthew Nestor found that the Franklin Park stadium parcel, where the stadium is being revitalized, is not subject to Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, allowing the project to proceed as planned.

The decision is a major win for Boston Legacy and the City of Boston, which have long championed their vision of bringing professional women’s soccer back to the city through a public-private partnership that would renovate the historic stadium, which will remain at 10,000-seat capacity once the work has been completed.

The stadium would be shared by the professional team and Boston Public Schools (BPS). A release from the City of Boston last month said the renovation will triple the available hours the BPS can use the stadium to between 750-900 per year.

“With today’s ruling, we are pleased to continue the revitalization of White Stadium alongside the city of Boston,” Jennifer Epstein, Boston Legacy FC’s controlling manager, said in a statement. “Boston Public Schools students and the communities around Franklin Park have long deserved the type of generational investment this project delivers.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a staunch supporter of the project, called the decision a “historic victory” in a separate statement.

“A renovated White Stadium will be open and used by BPS students, coaches, and community 15 hours per day, more than 345 days per year,” Wu said in the statement. “We thank the Superior Court for twice affirming this vital project for our students and community as a year-round facility that will inspire the next generation of Boston students.”

The team is slated to begin play in 2026 alongside another expansion club in Denver. Construction is expected to finish next winter, in time for the start of the 2026 NWSL season.

The end of this legal challenge removes a major hurdle for Boston Legacy, which has had a turbulent journey since Boston Unity Soccer Partners LLC, the investors group behind the club, was awarded NWSL expansion rights in September 2023

The White Stadium lawsuit, filed five months later, hoped to halt the project altogether.

The plaintiffs — the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and several residents who live near Franklin Park — argued the project would equate to the privatization of public land that was legally mandated to remain public.

The plaintiffs, in their challenge against White Stadium, were met with various setbacks along the way. They failed to convince the Suffolk Superior Court judge to provide an injunction last March and then were denied their request for a trial delay.

One day before the trial, a ruling by Nestor essentially threw out half of the plaintiffs’ case, signaling that his decision may eventually sway in the defendant’s favor. The judge in that pre-trial hearing ruled that the conservancy had no standing to bring a case against the defendants on the matter of whether the George Robert White Trust, which owns the stadium and the parcel of land where it sits, could make a deal with the city.

The conservancy’s president, Karen Mauney-Brodek, said in a statement on Wednesday that their group was “deeply disappointed” by Nestor’s decision and that they “plan to assess our legal options.”

“Our advocacy for Franklin Park and the community is about supporting our kids and the park with a truly public stadium. The communities around the park should be central to decision-making for our parks, not asked their opinion after decisions are already made,” Mauney-Brodek said in the statement. “We are proud to stand with community leaders who are not being heard. It’s our organization’s mission to work with all to protect and support Franklin Park and the rest of the Emerald Necklace for today and the future.”

The cost of the stadium project is expected to exceed $200 million, with the NWSL club responsible for more than half of those costs. The debate over the future of White Stadium has become a hotly debated subject in the city’s current mayoral race, which inadvertently brings with it a version of soccer politics.

Boston’s current mayor, Michelle Wu, has been a staunch supporter of the White Stadium project, as well as the NWSL team behind it. The incumbent is facing a unique challenge by Josh Kraft, who has been an outspoken critic of the stadium.

Kraft – son of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft – also has ties to his family’s push to build their own soccer-specific stadium for the Revolution in Everett, which would require an agreement with the city.

(Andrew Burke-Stevenson/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)