NWSL to add Boston expansion team in 2026: How it lines up with league’s growth vision

Professional women’s soccer is coming back to Boston. The NWSL expansion team will begin play in 2026, the league and new team’s ownership group, Boston Unity Soccer Partners, formally announced Tuesday. They bring an impressive roster of business leaders committed to continuing Boston’s legacy of sports excellence and delivering a successful team to a very passionate fanbase.” Unity’s ownership group, which has an “all-female core,” includes Jennifer Epstein, whose family co-owns the Boston Celtics, angel investor Stephanie Connaughton, Women’s Foundation of Boston co-founder and former Putnam Investments portfolio manager Ami Kuan Danoff, Flybridge Capital general partner Anna Palmer and Whitlock Group principal and Monarch Collective co-founder Jasmine Robinson. Unity’s current proposal, available on its website, is to renovate George R. White Stadium in Franklin Park, expanding its seating to approximately 11,000 and adding an event space called “The Grove.” This estimated $30 million renovation would be funded through equity, though ownership of the facility would remain with Boston Public Schools; the city has also earmarked $10 million of its own for additional renovation that would benefit BPS students. The field would still serve as “a central hub for BPS athletics,” which the proposal described as including “BPS’ ability to use the stadium for sports across the spring, summer, and fall seasons, school day games, and graduation ceremonies.” Boston Unity would be responsible for field maintenance and would staff a property management department year-round “to the standard and benefit of both the BPS and Boston Unity.” The field would still have a running track around it, but the Unity proposal suggests that the team would add “retractable and mobile seating” to transform the track into additional seating, with The Grove serving as a fan festival area.