(Editor’s note: This is the 20th installment in a weekly series spotlighting Rhode Island FC and Centreville Bank Stadium from a business perspective throughout the 2025 United Soccer League Championship season. To read past stories in this series, click here.)
PAWTUCKET – When it comes to attention gained through television, social media and traditional media, Rhode Island FC is trending – no pun intended – in the right direction, according to various studies released by both the club and a national sports public relations firm.
Los Angeles-based JTA Pacific recently released its Global Editorial Coverage Report, obtained by Providence Business News, showing the total media mentions of Rhode Island FC, their total reach and the advertising value equivalency the club gained through the first six months of 2025. JTA Associate Director Lala Ismailova told PBN the company used a program called “Meltwater” that captured online news articles both locally and nationally that mentioned either Rhode Island FC or Centreville Bank Stadium.
Ismailova said these reports are usually prepared around any major announcement a particular team would make. In the case of Rhode Island FC, she said, it was the opening of Centreville Bank Stadium this year.
According to JTA’s data, there have been 2,840 mentions of Rhode Island FC/Centreville Bank Stadium in local and national online news articles from Jan. 1 through June 30. That represents a 63% increase from that same time period a year ago.
Additionally, that attention resulted in a total advertising value equivalency of $117 million. That means Rhode Island FC if it wanted to pay for the coverage it received locally and nationally through the first six months of the year, it would have had to pay $117 million in total advertising, JTA Consultant Jessica Acosta told PBN.
Ismailova said that figure is calculated based on the reach, so the more prominent the news outlet and reach it has, the bigger the audience a team gets.
“Let’s say you went to a paid platform and place a written ad in that magazine, they would have charged you this much for that,” Ismailova said. “But because it’s earned media, it was basically free [attention].”
Both Ismailova and Acosta couldn’t provide a comparison as to how Rhode Island FC and the stadium stack up against other United Soccer League teams because JTA had not done this type of report before. They did say it depends on the market size on what numbers would be generated and do consider a $117 million total advertising value equivalency is “definitely high.”
Also, the mentions trend in JTA’s report shows Rhode Island FC receiving increased coverage through the first six months as well. The report states Rhode Island FC/Centreville Bank Stadium didn’t receive more than 100 in a given week until early March. Then, from mid-April through the end of June, the weekly mention rate only fell below 100 once (May 26-June 1).
The spikes beginning in late April and early May – from 182 weekly media mentions to as high as 250 – came right around the time when the club announced that Centreville Bank received the naming rights for the stadium, the opening of said stadium on May 3 and Rhode Island FC playing a U.S. Open Cup match at home against the New England Revolution. Another bump came in late June, with 285 mentions coming the week of June 16-22 and then a year-high 296 mentions the week of June 23-29, around when the Major League Rugby Championship game took place in the city and the lead-up to Rhode Island FC’s rivalry matches with Hartford Athletic at home, Ismailova said.
“One of the things we notice is if there’s a special event happening, when [Rhode Island FC and the stadium] capitalize around that moment, it helps boost the amount of media coverage they’re getting,” Ismailova said.
Rhode Island FC also recently came out with its midseason recap data, noting among other points social media growth and television viewership. The recap, also obtained by PBN, shows the club has gained more than 58,000 new followers to its social media platforms since the end of the 2024 season that saw the club reach the USL Championship final in its inaugural season.
Total social media followers for Rhode Island FC has grown 64.3% since last season, the club’s data shows. Plus, the team gained more than 11,000 new followers for its Instagram account, alone. The team also saw more than 483,000 “engagements,” meaning likes, comments and reposts, in the first six months of 2025, with Rhode Island FC stating it’s the most-engaged team in all of USL Championship and in New England sports.
On television, Rhode Island FC – which is broadcast on the New England Sports Network, NESN+, MyRITV – a sister station of WPRI-TV CBS 12 – and ESPN+ has reached more than 200,000 households. On average, 12,000 households are tuning into Rhode Island FC matches per night, the club states in its report. Also, more than 70,000 households watched the Rhode Island FC-Louisville City FC match on June 11, which was aired on ESPN2 that evening – a season high, according to the club.
Rhode Island FC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment how those viewership numbers compare with other teams across USL Championship.
Ismailova said moving forward that while Rhode Island FC and the stadium having another 63% year-to-year mention jump will be a tall order, she feels the club will still see increases in media coverage next year. Acosta also said an end-of-year report showing those target numbers will be put together by JTA in due time, as well.
Current team record (wins-losses-draws): 8-6-11, 30 points; 8th place of 12 in USL Championship Eastern Conference
Result of previous match: Rhode Island FC 1, Miami FC 0 (from Sept. 19)
Next match: Sept. 26, vs. El Paso Locomotive FC at Southwest University Park, 9 p.m.
James Bessette is a contributing writer and former PBN special projects editor. You may follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
