Tiny town REFUSING to host World Cup weeks before start over bankruptcy fears & call for Robert Kraft to foot $8m bill

Gillette Stadium is set to host seven matches, including marquee knockout matches, during Fifa’s global flagship event, which begins on June 11.

The first match is scheduled for June 13 when Scotland faces Haiti.

But in Foxborough, the small town of 18,000 people 22 miles (35 kilometers) from Boston where the 65,000-seat stadium is located, resentment is growing over the massive funds needed to cover the costs of policing and public safety.

A five-person, locally-run selection committee refused to approve the event’s license without financial guarantees from tournament organizers.

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Unless resolved, the Pats’ home, which will be called Boston Stadium during the tournament, and its doors could remain closed.

Terri Lawton, whose family’s Oake Knoll farm sits in the shadow of the stadium, told the US Sun the tension was real.

“I think the select committee is doing a great job trying to protect residents,” she said.

“We’re a very small town. We don’t have $8 million to invest – and even if we did, we shouldn’t. As far as I know, there are no assets to support it.”

Lawton hopes Kraft — whose personal wealth is estimated at more than $13 billion — will cover the costs, fearing the local economy could collapse if residents are forced to foot the bill.

“The reality is that the Kraft family will make more this year than most people in town will make in their lifetime,” she continued.

“If they want this to happen, the Kraft Group can just write a check. They’ll probably spend more than that in a month on payroll alone.”

The board set a March 17 deadline for approving licenses, emphasizing that planning and security equipment must be secured months in advance.

During the NFL season, billionaire owner Kraft and the Kraft Group manage these licenses.

However, for the FIFA World Cup, the stadium was leased to Fifa under a new agreement that requires cities to cover the costs of maintaining law and order, security and public safety.

Fifa requires venues to be secure for all 39 days of the tournament, not just match days, which increases costs.

Bill Yunka, vice president of the Foxborough Board of Trustees, described hosting the football games as “an NFL game on steroids” and the equivalent of “39 Super Bowls,” according to local news outlet WCVB.

Fellow board member Stephanie McGowan added that the World Cup is “probably more of a headache than it’s worth.”

Boston received $46 million last year — part of the $625 million plan from President Donald Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful bill — that could be used to pay for security costs.

But bureaucratic delays have left a significant void for municipal authorities.

The federal government shutdown in February further delayed the processing of funds promised to host cities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Yukna also said the Kraft Group was willing to match the expected grant, but that didn’t cover the entire difference and Foxborough would still have to hand over millions.

Money problems

Farmer Lawton notes that under the stadium’s current lease, the city receives just 67 cents per ticket sold, the same rate set in 2000, when tickets cost $60.

Today, tickets cost a minimum of $100, and police salaries and driving conditions have increased, but city revenues have not.

“The Krafts are entrepreneurs,” she says.

“Their goal is to retain as much revenue as possible. The selectmen’s job is to protect residents. It’s difficult when you’re negotiating with an $11 billion company.”

She added: “I hope the Kraft family covers the cost, because I don’t want the taxpayers to pay for it.”

“If they want the World Cup here, they stand to gain more financially than anyone else. As a business owner, I remove obstacles to making deals. I don’t understand the hesitation.

“Spreading the $8 million across 18,000 residents would have serious consequences. We wouldn’t be able to pay teachers, police or firefighters. It’s not about emotion, it’s about business. We need to fund essential services.”

“The selectmen have told the Kraft Group and the Boston Organizing Committee for over a year that the city would not provide money. We are a city, not a bank. The Kraft Group invested heavily to bring it to Foxborough.”

Shared costs

Under Fifa’s hosting agreements, the organization takes the lion’s share of revenue: ticketing, broadcast rights, sponsorships and parking.

Host cities manage security, public safety, transport hubs and the protection of officials, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Infantino projects that tournament revenues will exceed $11 billion and the U.S. economic impact will be $30 billion.

Lawton said that despite claims the tournament would generate profits for the region, local businesses could struggle during the tournament.

“The traffic is so heavy that people are staying at home,” she noted.

“Chase Lumber on Route 1 could have a rough June because no one wants to fight traffic. It’s congestion, not government restrictions.”

The decentralized World Cup

Historically, the FIFA World Cup was managed by a National Organizing Committee (NOC) — a central federal or sports department which served as an intermediary between FIFA and the host country.
This organization typically absorbed the majority of financial risks, legal liabilities, and logistical overheads.

For the 2026 World Cupthis model was abandoned in favor of a decentralized system.

How it works:

• Direct agreements: Instead of a single national contract, each of the 11 U.S. host cities negotiated its own independent “hosting agreement” directly with FIFA headquarters, based in Zurich.
• Change of responsibility: These agreements transfer enormous financial and legal responsibilities – formerly carried out by national organizers – directly to local municipalities.
• The cost of entry: Cities are now responsible for financing infrastructure, security and transportation upgrades, with estimates ranging from $100 to $250 million per city.

The controversy: Many cities now oppose it, calling the arrangement a “bait and switch.” While FIFA expects record revenues of up to 14 billion dollarslocal hosts face:

• Restrictive sponsorships: FIFA’s Host City Supporter program limits cities to just 10 local sponsors, and they cannot sign competing brands from FIFA’s global partners.
• The “tax free” clause: As part of the deal, many states were forced to waive sales taxes on ticket sales, depriving local governments of millions of dollars in potential revenue.

  The case of Los Angeles

• Los Angeles has become the primary battleground for these decentralized frictions, most notably through the highly publicized standoff at SoFi Stadium.
  Billionaire owner Stan Kroenke initially threatened to pull the venue over disputes over the distribution of revenue from luxury suites and local sponsorships.
  Unlike the traditional model in which a national agency could mediate, Los Angeles was left to negotiate these trade tensions on its own, nearly losing its status as a premier host site.
• The city also faces unique political and financial pressures that have intensified as the tournament approaches. Local organizers are currently grappling with a 900 million dollars Freezing of federal security grants and political threats to move games away from “sanctuary cities.”
  Since there is no central federal athletic department to provide a buffer, Los Angeles must independently manage these massive security costs and geopolitical risks while trying to protect its budget for the upcoming 2028 Olympics.

The licensing dispute has overshadowed any excitement at Foxborough ahead of the arrival of football’s biggest stars.

“The bottom line,” Lawton said, “is that the Kraft Group will make a lot of money from this event. The city just needs to protect itself.

“It’s not about malice. The city just doesn’t have the money and needs to protect itself.”

The World Cup will take place in just over 100 days, but the organizational problems have already started.

A six-week fan festival in New Jersey was canceled due to financial problems, and a similar event in Miami is facing funding problems.

Meanwhile, violence in Mexico following the assassination of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes has raised questions over the staging of crucial qualifying matches in the country later this month.

The opening match is scheduled for Mexico City.

The US Sun contacted FIFA and the Kraft Group for comment, but neither responded.