Foxborough deal with Kraft Group and Boston Soccer 2026 unlocks World Cup licence path

The Town of Foxborough has reached an agreement with the Kraft Group and the Boston World Cup host committee that is designed to secure the local licence needed for Gillette Stadium to stage seven 2026 FIFA World Cup matches.The dispute centred on the town’s demand for upfront money to cover policing and other public safety requirements, with officials arguing local taxpayers should not carry costs while awaiting delayed federal funding.In a joint statement, the parties said: “As part of this arrangement, the Town of Foxborough will not incur any cost or financial burden related to the FIFA World Cup, with Boston Soccer 2026 providing advance funding for security-related capital expenditures and the full extent of deployment that public safety officials have determined is needed to execute the event with Kraft Sports + Entertainment’s backing.”The statement said the sides had “reached an understanding collectively” and would “finalize the details needed to approve an event licence” at a March 17 public hearing, which had been viewed locally as a hard deadline for the stadium’s World Cup permit.Foxborough has put the security bill at about US$7.8m, a figure that became a flashpoint as FIFA takes control of venues during tournament operations and local authorities tighten requirements for crowd management, transport and emergency response.Select Board chair Bill Yukna said the deal meant “all of our funding concerns have been addressed”, and thanked Patriots owner Robert Kraft “for his involvement in bringing the funding concerns to a resolution”.The agreement follows several weeks of increasingly public tension between the small Massachusetts town, the stadium’s owner and tournament organisers over the mechanics and timing of payments, including equipment procurement requested by local police and fire officials.For FIFA and the Boston 2026 organising structure, the resolution removes a reputational and operational risk in a key US market less than 100 days before the opening match at Gillette Stadium, scheduled for June 13.The episode also underlines a broader commercial pressure point for major events hosted across multiple jurisdictions, where the allocation of security and municipal service costs can become contentious even when organisers promote large economic impact forecasts.The March 17 hearing is expected to confirm the licence conditions and finalise how advance funding will be delivered and administered ahead of the stadium’s World Cup handover period.