World Cup games to proceed at Gillette Stadium after Foxborough board grants license

After months of back and forth over cost concerns, the Foxborough Select Board officially granted the license for seven FIFA World Cup games to be held at Gillette Stadium. The board voted unanimously to approve the license Tuesday after Boston's host committee guaranteed the town would not be stuck paying nearly $8 million for the expensive security requirements for the global tournament. Funds for security were supposed to be granted by the end of January by the federal government, but the Department of Homeland Security said the current lapse in its funding has delayed its ability to disperse the grants. At a meeting earlier this month, the board members indicated they were not satisfied with the host committee's assurances that it would provide equipment and staffing required by the public safety plan by June 1, less than two weeks before the first 2026 World Cup game is set to be played. “For us to do what the [Foxborough police and fire] chiefs need takes time, first of all for installation, for programming, for training,” Bill Yukna, the board’s chair said at the time. “It takes time to get the materials.” But the Town of Foxborough issued a joint statement last week with host committee Boston Soccer 2026 and Kraft Sports + Entertainment that said it had come to an understanding to grant the license. It said that as part of the arrangement, the town "will not incur any cost or financial burden related to the FIFA World Cup." The host committee would provide advance funding with the backing of Kraft Sports + Entertainment. Kraft Sports + Entertainment is part of the Kraft Group, which is the holding company led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The Kraft Group also owns and operates Gillette Stadium. Attorneys representing the host committee assured the town's board on Tuesday that the Kraft Group pledged to pay for any security costs if the government funding fell through. Gary Ronan, an attorney for the host committee, said at the town's board meeting that it now has access to $1.5 million in an escrow account for police equipment and that staffing costs will be covered later via invoicing. He said the town will also benefit from its share of ticket fees for the seven games. "Those arrangements should take care of any financial considerations," Ronan said. "We're not cutting any corners here." Yukna earlier personally thanked Kraft for helping resolve the standoff in a statement of his own last week. Boston's first World Cup game will be held on June 13 between Scotland and Haiti, a highly anticipated event for both the Scots, who have not seen their team qualify for the tournament since 1998, and the Haitians, whose last appearance came in 1974. Gillette Stadium's final game of the World Cup is scheduled for July 9, which will be a quarter-final matchup.