PAWTUCKET – Another sports team will call Centreville Bank Stadium home next fall.
The University of Rhode Island announced Wednesday it will play home football games next season at Centreville Bank Stadium, while Meade Stadium on its campus in South Kingstown undergoes a $42 million renovation.
"We are thrilled to partner with Centreville Bank Stadium to be our home next season," said URI Vice President and Athletics Director Thorr Bjorn. "Not only will we be able to play in a state-of-the-art, first-class facility, but it will be a chance to showcase our nationally ranked program to our alumni and fans in a different part of the state."
Home to professional soccer team Rhode Island FC of the USL Championship, the 10,500-seat Centreville Bank Stadium officially opened in May. URI will rent the stadium for $30,000 per game over its five-game home season with operational fees ranging $24,000 to $40,000 per event, URI Associate Athletic Director Shane Donaldson told Providence Business News Wednesday.
In addition to soccer games, the stadium has hosted Major League Rugby matches, including the championship game last June, and it will host the 2025 Governor's Cup game between Rhode Island and Brown on Oct. 3, the first college football game held there.
“We are proud to welcome URI Football to Centreville Bank Stadium as their home for the 2026 season," Centreville Bank Stadium General Manager Paul Byrne said. "While Meade Stadium undergoes important upgrades, our venue will provide a first-class experience for student-athletes, coaches and fans. We value this partnership and look forward to an exciting season together.”
The dates for URI football games at Centreville Bank Stadium will be announced at a future time.
The upcoming renovations to Meade, which will completely replace the 52-year-old stands and press box – as well as make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act – is the largest piece of URI’s $82 million multiyear endeavor to upgrade multiple athletics facilities on campus. Other major fixes and upgrades to be made include the Slade track and field that is more than 30 years old and unusable for competition, the soccer fields, the Beck baseball field, the Tootell Aquatic Center and softball field.
Two years ago, Gov. Daniel J. McKee provided URI $65.8 million in the state budget toward those athletic facilities’ renovations. Bjorn told PBN at the time the financial boost the university received to fix the fields was “transformational” for the athletics department and was “desperately needed.”
Afterward, URI launched a $20 million fundraising campaign to help the state land-grant school finance the balance of the project.
According to the renderings, the stadium’s main stands opposite of The Ryan Center will have more seats. Donaldson previously told PBN the new stands will have a capacity of 5,000, including 800 chairback seats. The chairback seats will have multiple shades of blue forming the letters “URI,” a la the “RIFC” lettering on the upper deck seats at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket.
Overall, the stadium’s capacity will grow from around the current 5,770 maximum to about 6,500, Donaldson said. Also, the press box itself will be a “key area” to Meade’s renovation, Donaldson said. Along with installing an elevator for access, Meade’s new press box, Donaldson said, will have roof access for team film and additional broadcast cameras, and a control room for video board operations. Currently, those video board controls are in a structure under the stands, Donaldson said, and television cameras have to occupy some upper seating areas at Meade.
(UPDATE: Terms of deal added in 4th paragraph.)
