Rhode Island’s soccer stadium saga is back in the headlines as its cost to taxpayers keeps climbing. Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, home to USL Championship club Rhode Island FC, opened in May 2025 and is now in its third season, but the financing behind it has become a running issue in this year’s governor’s race.
Estimates of the public’s exposure vary depending on what’s counted. Total construction costs came in around $137.7 million, up roughly 70% from an original $81 million estimate. The state’s bond obligation over 30 years runs to about $132 million, while a narrower slice of direct taxpayer spending has been put at closer to $60 million. Taken together, a $140 million aggregate figure for what Rhode Island taxpayers are on the hook for isn’t unreasonable, but it’s a rollup of several numbers, not one official total.
The Ghost of 38 Studios
The stadium’s developer, Brett Johnson, is based in California, and Rhode Islanders have been quick to draw a line back to the state’s last high-profile development bet gone wrong: Curt Schilling’s video game company, 38 Studios, which collapsed in 2012 and cost taxpayers $75 million after the state guaranteed its loans. Some local commentators have taken to calling the current saga “38 Stadium.”
The comparison came up again during an August 3 gubernatorial debate between Governor Dan McKee and challenger Helena Foulkes, a sign the stadium’s financing hasn’t faded as a political liability even as the team plays its third season on the field it built.
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