Jeff Kassouf
Multiple Authors
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts — Gillette Stadium was not where the Boston Legacy planned to play their franchise’s first game, and losing 1-0 to Gotham FC was not how they hoped the party would end.
But after roughly three years of planning, stadium renovation setbacks and a branding mulligan, Boston’s arrival in a competitive NWSL match was a moment for the club and the league to celebrate.
“I know that, at this point, standing here today, today is a win,” Boston Legacy control owner Jennifer Epstein said moments before Saturday’s match kicked off.
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Esther González, an MVP finalist last season as Gotham won a second NWSL Championship in three years, came off the bench at halftime and scored 10 minutes later to lift Gotham to three points on opening weekend.
A Boston team with a significant international flair clogged up the midfield and slowed the game in the scoreless first half.
Esther’s goal broke the stalemate, and Legacy defender Bianca St-Georges’ second yellow card in the 77th minute reduced her team to 10 players and stifled the comeback effort.
An announced crowd of 30,207 turned up for the market’s first women’s professional soccer game since the now defunct Boston Breakers played this same Gotham franchise (then named Sky Blue FC) in September 2017.
The crowd set a record for an expansion team’s inaugural home game, although that record will fall in two weeks when a crowd of over 50,000 fans is expected for the home opener of the other 2026 expansion team, Denver Summit FC.
The NWSL Board of Governors first green-lit Boston’s expansion bid over three years ago (although it was not publicly announced until months later), marking the longest runway in league history for expansion team.
Several setbacks followed. An ambitious project to renovate White Stadium, which is inside Boston city limits, was a flashpoint in the city’s mayoral race and faced local pushback. Delays in construction eventually cost the team the chance to play the 2026 home slate there as originally planned. The new White Stadium, which will seat around 10,000 fans, is set to open sometime next year.
The Legacy also launched the brand “BosNation” last year before abandoning it after widespread scrutiny and settling on the Boston Legacy name and branding.
So, Saturday’s game marked a significant step forward for the Legacy. “Our Legacy Takes Flight,” was what Boston’s supporters group’s tifo in the north end read before the game.
“Today I’m just thinking about today and the celebration,” Epstein said. “We’re doing something big; we’re doing something historic. And yes, it’s been hard — harder than one would have thought, but I couldn’t be more proud of the effort of the whole organization. Today I feel pride and honestly, a sense of awe that we got here, that we are playing in a world-class stadium.”
Saturday’s match was the first played on the temporary grass laid down for the 2026 Men’s World Cup. A snowy New England winter delayed installation of the surface, which played slowly on Saturday, and caused MLS’ New England Revolution to postpone their home opener earlier this month.
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