Boston Cannons Announce All Games For 2019 Season Will Be Broadcasted On NBC Sports Boston Across New England

On Thursday the Boston Cannons announced a major step forward in their partnership with NBC Sports Boston with the MLL franchise announcing that all of their 2019 games would be broadcasted by the regional sports network. 

Both sides have agreed to broadcast all 16 regular season games starting with the season opener on June 1st with all of the home games planned to be a live broadcast and the away games currently in flux with the potential for them to be on a delayed feed. 

The partnership between  NBC Sports Boston and the Boston Cannons has developing over the course of the past few seasons with the two partnering in online collaboration and NBC Sports Boston broadcasting multiple live games in the 2018 season. 

Broadcasting on NBCSB gives the Cannons access to ~4 million households in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

Certainly a big opportunity for the Cannons who alongside Major League Lacrosse continue to grow at a rapid pace. 

Boston Cannons Add Two Players From MLL Player Pool Including A Former Providence College Friar

On Monday the Boston Cannons announced that have added two players onto their 2019 roster from the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Player Pool. 

The two players? 

23-year-old Drew Bourdeau out of Saint Anselm College and 24-year-old Jimmy Cunningham out of Providence College. 

Both were added after the conclusion of the MLL Open Try-Out held in Charlotte, North Carolina during the MLL Draft Weekend. 

Both are long-stick defenders with the former Friar, Cunningham, playing in 62 career games for PC picking up 163 ground-balls in four years of play in addition to forcing 70 turnovers. 

The Syracuse, NY native started every game the last three seasons of his Friar career and led PC in turnovers his Senior season causing 22 turnovers. 

Bordeau, a Newburyport, MA native,  started 56 out of 57 career games at Saint Anselm College snagging 129 career ground-balls and forcing 62 career turnovers. 

Both are expected to attend the Cannons 2019 Training Camp which kicks of on May 11th at their new home, Veterans Memorial Stadium located in Quincy, MA.

Boston Cannons New Home Of Veterans Memorial Stadium Sets Team Up For Success

In March of 2019 the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse announced that they would be making a $1.5M investment into their future home, Veterans Memorial Stadium located in Quincy.

The Cannons are not the first professional team to play at the venue with the former Boston Minutemen of the NASL, a soccer team that lasted just three seasons between 1974-76.

The Minutemen bounced around quite a bit during their playing days with their home games being played at Harvard, Boston College, Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro, Boston University, and of course, Veterans Memorial in 1976.

Since the Minutemen in 1976 the field has been used by primarily by the local high schools with the Cannons being the first pro-team to use the field since the Minutemen.

The last major upgrade of the facility came in 2006 with a price tag of $1.2M with the City of Quincy installing new turf, updated locker rooms, and making the venue handicap accessible.

At the time the city used their hotel tax to fund the project.

The most recent upgrade to the facility took place in August of 2018 when the city installed a new turf field with a price tag of ~$500,000, 12 years after the old turf was installed which is considered an average life expectancy. 

Photo of the Turf on March 23rd, 2019

Veterans Memorial was built between 1937-38 under President Franklin D. Rosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency tasked with public works projects. 

The original update on the construction of the property read: “All who have motored to the South Shore or Cape this Summer have noted the WPA work on the Pfaffman Oval in Merrymount Park. Here a perfect football field and running track are being inclosed with a high brick wall. Reinforced bleachers, dressing and storage rooms are being built. Below the field the city is gradually filling up a salt water marsh and will in a few years have reclaimed the entire area up to the curving South Shore Road.”

Current Property Valuation

Currently the property is valued at $12,976,400 with the assessor’s office in Quincy evaluating the property for the 2019 Fiscal Year. 

• Land assessed at $9,209,800
• Improvements to the land valued at $3,766,000
  • Stadium: $3,283,500
  • Field: $232,200
  • Fencing: $225,000
  • Asphalt: $25,900

Boston Cannons $1.5M Investment Plan

With all of the history in the venue the Cannons plan on adding several key architectural features to bring the venue into the 21st century and increase the capacity from ~3500 to ~4,500. 

The financials haven’t fully been unveiled with the deal with the city being a multi-year contract starting in the 2019 season with the $1.5M investment coming 100% from the Cannons in exchange for the use of the field. 

The investment will go towards a new Daktronics scoreboard, several new seating options, and upgrades to the facilities (press box, locker rooms).

From a municipal perspective this is a Win-Win for Quincy with the investment coming from the private party in the Cannons and the highschool’s and youth organizations who utilize the venue getting to use the upgrades as well.

 At time of post the Cannons have told Trifecta Sports that work has already started on the Press Box and in the locker rooms with the goal of bringing both into a professional grade comparable to facilities at other professional venues. 

Current main bleacher seating, Cannons to upgrade 1,000 seats with modern stadium seating

New Seating Capacity Estimates

Currently the venue has a ~3,500 seating capacity and with three incremental seating options planned the projected capacity for Opening Day 2019 could be around 4,500  but at this time this is just an estimate as the Cannons will not release those figures until everything has been completed. 

For a point of reference the Cannons averaged 3,739 attendees over 7 games in 2018 playing out of Harvard Stadium.

Based on their average exceeding the current capacity of Veterans Memorial Stadium the seating capacity upgrade was a critical move for the Cannons. 

Coming from a 30,000+ seating stadium at Harvard to Veterans Memorial will provide fans with a more interment seating and a better visual in having a full stadium. MLL’s new fan friendly schedule ensuring better weather and friendlier start times should also drive the attendance for the Cannons who are set to host 8 home games in the 2019 season. 

Street parking available on both sides of main road, three lots within 100 yards of venue

Navigating To Veterans Memorial Stadium 

Veterans Memorial Stadium is located within a mile of two MBTA Red Line stops and is off route 3A. The plot sits ~2 miles from Route 93 and is ~8 miles from downtown Boston. 

The venue’s major challenge when it comes to attending the Cannons is the parking situation. 

There is a lot adjacent to the stadium but it has ~50 spaces. There are other options close by however, there are several lots within a 3 minute walk that would bring the potential parking lot capacity total to ~500 spaces. 

In addition, the street the venue sits on has ample street parking that can provide parking accommodations for a few hundred veichles. That being said, this is not ideal. 

When asked for comment into the parking situation the Cannons said they would be working with the City of Quincy on a parking plan and will release the full details in the future. 

The Road Ahead For The Cannons

With the Boston Cannons 2019 home season kicking off on June 1st, the stadium upgrades are expected to be fully completed by Mid-May.