Home Editor's Choice RIFC: Stadium tours boosting ticket sales, business relationships

RIFC: Stadium tours boosting ticket sales, business relationships

By

James Bessette

-

01/21/2025

Stadium lead — RHODE ISLAND FC has conducted public tours of the stadium at Tidewater Landing in Pawtucket during its construction, giving the public a glimpse of the new venue slated to open in May. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND FC

PAWTUCKET – Live soccer matches and other events are still months away from happening at the stadium at Tidewater Landing. But that hasn’t stopped Rhode Island FC and stadium officials from introducing the new state-of-the-art facility to an energized public in an up close and personal way. The reigning United Soccer League Championship Eastern Conference

Already a Subscriber? Log in

To Continue Reading This Article

Become a Providence Business News subscriber and get immediate access to all of our premier content and much more.

Learn More and Become a Subscriber

Critical RI business news and analysis updated daily.
1 year of print (26 issues).
Unlimited access to all subscriber only content on our website, on any device.
Free email alerts.
Annual Book of Lists Print Edition.
All special issues produced during subscription term.

Click Here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article

PBN Branded Content

Healing Beyond the Surface: Expert Wound Care with Angela Fazio, RN, BSN, CWCN

Why specialized treatment matters more than you may realize. For millions of Americans, chronic wounds…

Learn More

No posts to display

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

PAWTUCKET – Live soccer matches and other events are still months away from happening at the stadium at Tidewater Landing. But that hasn’t stopped Rhode Island FC and stadium officials from introducing the new state-of-the-art facility to an energized public in an up close and personal way. The reigning United Soccer League Championship Eastern Conference champions for the last few months have held free public tours of the new 10,500-seat stadium along the Seekonk River while the facility is still under construction. The club to date has offered residents and business officials alike multiple opportunities to see the new stadium up close both as it’s being built and an early glimpse of a new multipurpose sports venue that is set to help revitalize the city’s downtown area. Moreover, Rhode Island FC’s top official also says the tours, which launched in November and are ongoing, has further raised the club’s profile while still on a high from the team’s historic playoff push back in November. The tours have helped both attract future fans to matches and build future partnerships with local businesses that will result in positive benefits for both the area and the club. Club President David Peart told Providence Business News that since he arrived in the summer to lead the club, he wanted to make sure Rhode Island FC did all it could to demonstrate and showcase to the public the stadium’s uniqueness and how it will improve the state’s quality of life. Having the public walk onto the job site for an up-close view and what it will mean to both the city and state was the best way for Rhode Island FC to introduce the new venue to the community, Peart said. “[The tours] has been an incredibly powerful tool for us,” Peart said. “We have individuals that we have been talking to that haven’t purchased tickets yet and there’s no more powerful sales tool than to have folks walk on that site and see [the stadium] firsthand. It’s a really valuable way to show off what will be available in short order.” Rhode Island FC is seeing continued strong ticket sales resulting from the tours. While he didn’t offer specific numbers, Peart said Rhode Island FC was “at goal” for ticket sales, both for general admission and premium seating, for December and expects the same for January. Peart also said the likelihood of people purchasing tickets for Rhode Island FC matches after doing a stadium tour is “significantly higher” from a percentage standpoint than talking over the phone with a team representative. He also said those who already have tickets and took the tours are “more likely to upgrade.” “Our charge is to sell out the building, so we want to make sure that we’re fully engaged on that effort,” Peart said, also noting the team recently introduced five- and 10-game ticket packages after the club released its 2025 schedule. Those package sales, he says, have “gone really well.” Along with selling premium group tickets and suites, building partnerships with local businesses will be a “big part” of Rhode Island FC’s and the stadium’s corporate support component and establish a clientele with area companies, Peart said. [caption id="attachment_485769" align="alignleft" width="420"]

MORE THAN 80% of construction at the stadium at Tidewater Landing in Pawtucket has been completed. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND FC[/caption] Those partnerships may include advertising both within the stadium – including on field-level and digital board LED signage – and on digital media platforms. The recent stadium tours have helped create those connections with area businesses, he said, but Peart declined specifically to say which businesses are now partnering with Rhode Island FC. Mark Hugo, founder and principal of Providence-based commercial real estate appraiser FedVal LLC, told PBN he toured the stadium on Jan. 13 because he wanted to see the new city jewel come to life and get a gauge of what kind of an impact the venue can have on the surrounding area. He also feels the city will have its “own urban renaissance” within the next five to 10 years due to the new stadium and other area developments coming online soon. We’re already seeing a rise in [property] values [in Pawtucket],” Hugo said. “We’re seeing interest from a lot of investors that want a small investment property. They’re already targeting Pawtucket because they’re lower than Attleboro and Providence. Now, I think larger corporations, such as Rhode Island FC, are coming in. I would say in the next few years, I would start looking for retail and restaurants to take notice and start opening there. Once you get that, there’s going to be even more demand and it’s going to snowball from there.” While he feels his company isn’t yet ready to advertise with Rhode Island FC, Hugo said he looks to find investors who are interested in attending matches at the new stadium and build connections with them to build his client base that way. Jay Frechette, the senior vice president and marine practice leader for East Providence-based Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc. who also toured the stadium on Jan. 13, says he hopes his company can partner with local nonprofits to treat less-fortunate people to an upcoming Rhode Island FC match as another way to support the local community. Stefan Petrella, Starkweather’s senior vice president and director of business development and also recently toured the stadium, also told PBN that the insurance brokerage hopes to hold lively company outings at the new stadium, similar to what the company did at nearby McCoy Stadium for years. Both Petrella and Frechette declined to say if Starkweather is looking to establish formal business services partnerships with the soccer club. Regarding the stadium’s ongoing construction, Stadium General Manager Paul Byrne told PBN in an email that more than 80% of the stadium has been completed, with April being the target month for the full stadium to be finalized. May 3 is scheduled for Rhode Island FC’s home opener. Various furniture, fixtures and equipment, as well as production elements and the riverwalk are still to be built, Byrne said. Also to be built are the riverside stadium seating area. The stadium’s non-soccer event schedule is “soon to be announced,” Byrne said. Stadium tours can be booked by visiting Rhode Island FC’s website. James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.