Supporters Summit Recap

FOXBOROUGH, MA– [October 19, 2023] On September 12th, we called on Major League Soccer and the New England Revolution to hold a supporters summit following numerous issues on and off the pitch. While the Midnight Riders did not join our call for a summit, we were pleased they accepted our invitation to attend. On October 19th, Revolution Club President, Brian Billelo, met with supporters from both groups for a candid conversation.

Cory Cloutier started the Summit by stating, "First and foremost, thank you everyone for coming out. We really appreciate it, we know a lot of folks here truly care about this team a bunch and this is why we wanted to have a meeting with all of our die hard fans. Tonight we have Brian here to come and speak with us tonight with further details. Before he does talk, we're here for information and clarity. We're not here to belittle, swear at anyone, we want to be vocal and get answers, so that is the purpose for tonight. If you're here for other reasons, the door is to my right. Brian is going to talk for a few minutes and then we will open the floor. Simply raise your hand, ask your question, and Brian will answer it to the best of his ability. Secondly, there is no live tweeting or recording tonight. The article (which you are reading now) will be sent to fans and supporters after the summit."

The Microphone was then passed to Brian.

Brian Billelo started the discussion by speaking directly to those in attendance by stating, "I have a couple of things. One, I know most of you have questions about Bruce and I hope some of you watched that press conference about Bruce where we talked about that there, and I'm happy to talk about that again, and I'll give clarity to what I can, many of you know me and I always try to make my availability to supporters available. I was a Season ticket holder too, I had season tickets for 3 years before I moved to California and fortunately came back to this club. I have been a fan of this club since day one and still consider myself a fan of the club, I care deeply for this club and I'd argue I know about fan culture more than most club presidents do. I'm here because I respect the supporters groups and what they bring to the club. You won't like some of the answers I give, and I can't give some answers, but I always try to give you an answer and I never lie. We invited the league to be here, they didn't come, but I made myself available because I want to be here for you. Clint Peay, Revolution II Head Coach and Interim Head Coach of the Revolution, and Curt Onalfo, Revolution Technical Director and Interim Sporting Director are interim roles, so that is why they are not here today, but since they are interims, it's not appropriate for them to be here in that capacity tonight."

Following Brian's statements, the Q&A section began.

Q&A Section:

Question 1: The Bruce Arena situation was a challenge, one of the things that hit home with people was the aftermath, with Joseph and Dave leaving the team. Could that have been prevented?

Answer 1: We didn't know how long Bruce's situation was going to be. We never got a timetable on his situation. Curt reacted quickly in the short term with the assumption that we'd be back to normal. It was frustrating for all of us. It's hard for us to manage the situation. When we got through the whole situation, we tried to figure things out and all sporting decisions were discussed we realized that there weren't great outcomes when you lose your sporting director and head coach, so I made the best decision for the players. The players wanted new voices, and new changes, and I made that decision. We didn't want to make a ton of changes and we thought Clint was a great choice since he was familiar with the team as a happy medium, but also not going external and making the players more uncomfortable than they already were. We thought about what was the best decision we could make for the players at the moment, and that was the priority for us in the end result. 

Question 2: I first want to state that most supporters felt that it is futile to show up to the summit tonight as they feel that this would accomplish nothing and that the direction of this team will continue to move in a negative direction. As much as I want to disagree with them, I have taken time to reflect on my tenure on the E-Board of the rebellion over the past 4 years and have thought hard about the interaction the team has had with us in that time. While there have been some wins over those 4 years. There have also been a number of losses.  I can say that we are in part to blame as we haven't expressed wanting these things, but it feels like we shouldn't have to and our team should embrace us with open arms. I  distinctly  remember  our first security meeting 4 years ago when I was president of The Rebellion. and In that meeting  you stated that ticket sales had gone up everywhere in the stadium except in the fort. I remember it well because of the looks everyone gave me in the room when  I made the brash, but brutally honest comment of it's because that was where your true fans watch the game and these are the fans that  have a higher soccer IQ and care more about the team and are tired of having a team that hadn't win anything and feels like the team didn't care about supporters. Fast forward to today,  Football / Soccer whatever you may call it has become more prevalent in American society especially with shows like Sunderland Till I die, We Are Wrexham and even Ted Lasso. These televisions shows capture and ,yes I get it's the European side of things, what it means to be a supporter. It shows the countless hours supporters put into their team and how it's not just about being a fan of the team, it's part of their identity. I can speak to the truthfulness of this knowing how much time I along with others in this room have spent putting into this team and this supporters group to try and build that culture here in New England. The second thing those television shows showcase is how much ownership and the front office staff cares about its supporters and how it wants to help in building that culture. Something I very much get jealous of mainly for the aforementioned headaches.  Despite the success we've had under Bruce Arena and all the aforementioned good things that have happened. There is a part of me that is left feeling the same as those supporters that didn't show tonight, that this supporter summit might accomplish nothing. This comes mainly in part by the handling of his exit from his team. I understand that it was unforeseeable that this could have happened and if what Bruce said was so offensive that he had to be let go then I understand and respect the decision, but that isn't the case. The team’s  inability to control the narrative leaves supporters to speculate that, for lack of better words,a coup had happened among coaching staff, That  Ritchie and Bruce had issues. Bruce told Ritchie's  agent to find him a new Job in 2024 and then Ritchie was named as one of the people in the complaint. This coupled with an abysmal performance on the pitch has me strongly questioning the confidence in the front office as to whether this  team is heading in the right direction and if this is  this whole matter has been acceptable by their standards. As an E-Board member of the Rebellion I often ask myself and my fellow executive board members to remove ourselves from our positions and put ourselves in our members' shoes when making decisions. 

Place yourself in the shoes of a supporter and ask has this been acceptable. Would you do anything different? What are your hopes and goals tonight? And more importantly, why should we have confidence in you moving forward. What is your plan to rebuild that confidence in supporters?

Answer 2: Again, I want to reiterate, Bruce resigned from his position with the club, he was not let go. When you ask what the club did in this situation, the answer is. Not much . He was up for an investigation, it was done, at the end, he resigned, he admitted fault in his resignation, and the league put out a statement as well. Those are the facts. All I can speak to are the facts. No one said this was a good investigation. No one said there were lies. No one said nothing happened in this investigation. Reality is, Bruce decided to resign and admitted fault. Those are the facts. The club didn't make a decision in that. The club didn't do anything in that, when you ask about the club, yeah? It's frustrating for the club. I didn't ask for that, the club didn't ask for that either. In terms of transparency, I get it, I get it that people want to know, but it's a legal HR investigation, done by the league, not by us. I'm not privy to the all things going on and nor should I be. They didn't want members of the club involved, guys I'm not privy to it. I understand the frustration of it. I know people like to go on social media and treat me like a guy that I don't  f***ing care about this club, I have cared more about this club longer than some people have been alive in the fort. So, I care. I am upset, do you honestly think I'm not upset. It's not fun for the club. We're trying to make the best decision for the club. We're also trying to help the supporters to the highest degree and give them that feedback and I'm sure we'll give them that feedback.

The only goal I have tonight is to let supporter groups know that I care about you, the club cares about you, and I will do what I can to help you as much as I can. We do what we can to support you and that you are important to us.

Question 3: I would love for the supporter summits to come back at the beginning of the season each year. chances to look forward together to make sure visions are together. My main question is regarding Chancalay. He has come in and stepped up and been an amazing addition to the team. I know he is here on loan and we have the option to renew or purchase a contract, is currently on-loan and whatnot, what are the thoughts on that so far?

Answer 3: Yeah, ultimately, the permanent sporting director will make that decision. I'd be really surprised if any supporting director didn't pick him up based on how he's playing, and I feel that he will be back. I want him to be back, but it's a supporter director's job to make that decision, and they will make that decision.

Question 4: Obviously when we brought in Bruce Arena, it was a huge move forward both culturally and club-wise. I think a lot of people are concerned that the next hire will be a backstep. I know that is not your goal, but what would you say to reassure people that you are going after the highest caliber people that we can get.

Answer 4: Bruce Arena was a result of the culture change that myself and the ownership wanted to make In the club. He did an amazing job in the job that he has done and if we go back to prior to Bruce, I can say on a club perspective that where we were and where we are now, and we looked and changed how we were and operated both on and off the field, so the attitude change started pre-Bruce, and again the training center was attestant to that. I want to clarify that we brought Bruce in to do that, and frankly Bruce brought a lot of good people to the club, and I would say that Curt, Remi” (Roy, Revolution Director of Scouting and Player Personnel), Chris Tierney (Revolution Director of Soccer Operations) “did well with bringing international players in and affecting our Academy and second teams that did well, it's all been executed well, so I'll just say the direction of the club wasn't set by Bruce, but it was executed at a high level. You're going to continue to see we are one of the biggest spenders in Concacaf. Our payroll is still considerably high, and hopefully we have money to spend next year and pending league rules we will see where the club stands on our vision and how we want to get better each year.

Question 5: Bruce was one of the few in this league that was a GM and Coach. is that the vision for the next hires or are we looking to move away from this. building on that, are we only searching for GMs & coaches in the US or are we looking internationally as well?

Answer 5: In my perspective, I would say having separate is the right way to have things. Conflict is good to have when people aren't thinking the same. Bruce was a unique animal, but by and large the best structure is to have a sporting director and coach. For me, I like to be dynamic and I was able to bring Bruce here to change the dynamic, which was the right move at that time, but we have to be dynamic to change. I think conflict is good, some are afraid of conflict, and I'd argue that if people think the same, there are issues. I like the dynamic of when a coach is focused on tomorrow and a sporting director focused on the future, it’s good to have. so it's good to have both, so I'd say having separate is a good move.

When you're interviewing candidates, I think it's important to have diverse candidates, whether it's international versus domestic, whether its first coaches versus sporting versus technical directors, I think it's good to have diverse backgrounds. Having a diverse candidate will really see what they're thinking and see really what resonates. Who you might need in one year might be different 2-3 years down the line. So it's good to see a dynamic with a couple different candidates.

Question 6: Do You have a wish list of available candidates for Sporting Director or Coach?

Answer 6: Sporting Director is the first step. That person will run everything. I try not to do all of those things as a sporting director will do all of those things. and they'll control that. They'll focus on the coaching job, I'll be involved. We see people and hear people,. but a sporting director will be able to have those discussions so that we can get focused on it. We are involved in sporting director discussions. not coaching at this time. Coach will be after the sporting director is hired.

Question 7: What is the timeline for that sporting director? Who makes that decision?

Answer 7: ASAP. We are in that process right now, hopefully by the end of the calendar year we will have a sporting director on staff. "That interview process will be done by me ideally."  HR type person. When it comes to head coach or sporting director there are more people involved in the interviews. We have to manage people and make sure that they can manage a department of 100 people and focus on a couple different things. Also involved in the interview process for the sporting director will be usually just me or an HR person. When it comes to Head Coach, it will be myself, an HR person, Sporting Director, and a few other people can be involved in that process.

Question 8: Bruce brought talent in. is the expectation that most of the technical staff will stay versus turnover

Answer 8: The Sporting Director will make that decision. with what we did with Bruce is we showed him the technical staff and what we thought of them, but ideally that's their job to understand the staff and make the decisions.

Question 9: Do you or the Owners know what the allegations were

Answer 9: We know ‘insensitive and inappropriate remarks in the workplace’ - I know  some things, but nothing of the full transcript. I know some things on a high level but not much more than you all do.

Question 10: Petro v Vaclik. Why Sell Petro &  What's the deal with Vaclik?

Answer 10: That was a hard one. We had real offers for Petrovic this summer that we turned down. I'm not sure how many clubs would turn down those offers, and essentially, the owners didn't want to sell the player. We all wanted to win an MLS cup and we weren't going to sell him, and we had to manage through that. It's a lot easier to say yes than no. Frankly, we thought we got through it. We knew it was his aspirations, but felt like there would be more offers. Our expectations and the owners' expectations were that we’d sell in the winter for less than the offers we got in the Summer, and we were comfortable with that. When the Chelsea offer came in. We were toast. This is not a shot at Djordje, but the player is gone. He got an offer that he can't say no to. We're super happy for him, he's a great kid, and unfortunately it happened the way it did this summer, and we fought off offers for him and got away from it. We may be in this situation again. We are a very attractive club for players. This is a great opportunity for good players to increase their value. The good news is we are going to get great players who are looking to advance in their careers. We have a whole new level of player available to us. Our plan is to do that. We should have had someone lined up and been prepared for Djordje to leave, and we were not. 

In regards to Vaclik, we brought in a free agent that we thought was fit. he's been training, Hitchie is making decisions and he is picking the best guy that he thinks wins, so that's as open I can be on the goalkeeper situation. 

Question 11: Was there talk for a loan for the rest of the season for Petro?

Answer 11: Yes. Chelsea said that there was no chance.

Question 12: Can you talk about where the money from those transfer fees have gone or where the thought process is for that money?

Answer 12: Well, it's net money versus what the club gets. Any transfer we get, we get as much GAM as we can, usually the max. MLS is the number 1 league in the world with rules. When in doubt, take GAM. Having extra salary cap is a huge advantage, so we always invest back in. In some cases, the original club had to take some of that money, this is the case for Petro, the league takes 5% of the transfer, there is about 5% in solidarity that comes off the top, it can be anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 of it that comes to us, and it usually goes right back into the transfer market. We sold Adam, got Giacomo, Sold Tajon, got Dylan, Sold Petro, . so on. It's a balance, and we're doing what we can to make a balance.

Question 13: I've been feeling down about the whole Bruce thing, dismayed with the on field performance, I don’t need to know who stepped forward and etc, what I wanted to take away tonight was re-assurance to be a big club and I want to leave tonight philosophically with the goal to be a big club.

Answer 13: 100%. This is why we brought these people in, what we try to do, and why we are the way we are. We are certainly not looking to slide, and we are looking to get better every year. We want to be better, and we will see, but it's where we want to head.

Question 14: The last 3 transfer windows, Full back depth has been poor, with center back depth also worse with the injury woes. Why are these holes taking so long to fill?

Answer 14: I try not to answer for other people.but, Bruce made those calls. We filled the roster slots, we used the cap, we used the GAM, it's the sporting directors job to do that. How we allocated those resources, Bruce made those decisions, and I cannot answer what he saw in his players and what he needed.

Question 15: We have a talented team, but obviously with everything that has gone on recently, results have not been there. After what happened in 2021, obviously you're not in the room, but what is being done to calm these waters to get the team back on track

Answer 15: The team is mentally in good shape. The players are focused and haven't given up, it's hard to separate some of the stuff that has been going on, with the injuries we've had to Bou, Bye, Borerro, Kessler, etc. it's not an excuse, but how much do you separate tactics, injuries, etc. there are so many factors. The players themselves are in good spirits, they aren't "happy" with their recent results. they want to win. they're fighting to do that every week and their focus is this weekend and for playoffs. They are trying to figure out with the guys they have now and what they can do in order to succeed.

Question 16: What can you do to hold yourself accountable to bring this team to higher levels

Answer 16: This year we were in the conversation for most or half of the year on the top, and I wouldn't say that nothing has changed, our focus is on MLS cup. For some, their focus is only winning the MLS Cup, so in their eyes, it's unsuccessful if we don't, but we're working on achieving our goal. After 2021, I asked Bruce what he was going to do, he made the decisions to get us to higher levels, and now someone else will do that job, and bring us to the higher level.

Question 17: Obviously when Bruce resigned, Richie took charge, went 2-2-2, since then, Clint took charge, he's 1-4-1, with all the changes, the first team form dropped, the second team was affected, the academy was affected by the first and second team, my question is on the direction on coaching for the first and second team, how will it affect the academy, and is Richie Williams still with the club? We haven't heard anything about him recently. Is he still with the club?

Answer 17: I don't know in regards to the staff. The sporting director will make all of those decisions. When everything went down, the priority was the first team. On the second team, we did the best we could. Curt has managed our development platform. He has built an integrated program with the academy all the way up to the second team and first team, so it's really a connective group. We look at it as a flow from U13s all the way to the first team. It's pretty integrated. We do a lot of work on the technical side to make sure everything is familiar with everything so that everyone is constantly on the same page.

In regard to Richie, he is still with the club. He is not coaching with the first team right now, he was given time off, but he is still with the club.

Question 18: Can you talk about the Turf? I'm not educated on it, would you say Turf is a factor with injuries. Will turf affect the World Cup, and so on?

Answer 18: Turf v. Grass is just a different playing surface. We train on grass everyday, but we play on turf. we're a multipurpose venue and it can help us at times, and our guys are used to it. So it's ok. We will have new turf next season and questionably I think it plays better.

In 2026, the turf will come out, and we will be planting grass, preparing for the world cup. We will have a grass field in 2026, and while MLS and FIFA haven't figured it all out, the Revs will play on grass through the World Cup for MLS.

Question 19: There has been recent talk of legislation on the harbor district in Boston, What can you say about it? Is it a stadium?

Answer 19: This is the hard part for me. Right.  I don't have anything I can say right now. I know you want a comment, and I want to give a comment, but there really isn't anything I can say right now.

Question 20: Availability for family restrooms. There is a pile of them for Patriots games, but currently only 1 for Revs games

Answer 20: Email your rep, CC me on it, and I'll make sure someone does that.

Question 21: Are you worried about RIFC or CT or Maine getting teams and you losing season memberships? How are you looking to keep fans engaged? How are you keeping fans engaged if the team moves the stadium to Boston?

Answer 21: We are always working for that. What I do try to share and what we try for our members and provide them the best experience we can. Even technology behind the scenes that you don't see or the price points for our tickets. I want the tickets as affordable as possible. I'm not  bulls***ing you. We are looking to provide the best possible value and get a good philosophy for that. We are at the lowest cancellation rates of our history, and we are already going to break our season ticket membership base by twice as many as we did in 2018. After our next game we are projected to be 8th in MLS in attendance. We've done a lot to show value and care to our members and make them come back.

There is room for everyone, the more soccer, the more soccer fans. I think with what we are doing, we have the best soccer experience in MLS.

On moving to Boston and keeping fans, It's a hard problem to have. If we have a stadium in Boston, we're a juggernaut and one of the jewels of MLS. We will lose season members, long standing season members, and that sucks, that doesn't make me happy, but to move the club forward, we have to do that. We need to open the eyes to the sport and to the culture of an MLS match in a major city. Going to a Hockey game and a Basketball game is the same experience. The same venue, noise levels. What we have is really unique. We plan on keeping 4 and 6 game packages for fans and not price out fans. We can’t wait. We need to keep pushing forward to make this club a great club. We are not letting a lack of stadium at this point hold us back.  

Question 22: You talk about fan experience, and the memberships and benefits, can you add anything regarding Bus trips? I know there was a big issue this season on whether or not those would come back.

Answer 22: I don't think so. That's a good example of something that cost us a decent amount of money and very few utilized that. I know it's a great trip. It was my idea. It was me. It started in 2014 and we maxed out our ticket allocation for the Red Bull trip and it was added as a perk.

Question 23: Will there be an MBTA Expansion for Revs Games?

Answer 23: So far it has been something that we can't affect. The right answer is bringing the stadium to the city. but it's a good idea and it will get more fans here, but the way the club will grow will be bringing it to the city.

Question 24: Inexpensive ticket prices are good, and I never want to price people In the room out of the fort. It's appreciated, but this also creates a problem that in the supporter section, it is the cheapest section in the stadium. Some fans are unaware of what that means. What can be done to make them aware of what it means to be in the fort and what to expect. 

Answer 24: It's listed on Ticketmaster as a standing room only supporter section, and if people are choosing that, that's what they want. It gets dangerous when we play gatekeeper to who gets into a section or not, and I want to make it the best seat in the building and keep it affordable for everyone.

Question 25: What was the relationship between Club and League during the investigation?

Answer 25: Certain things took place and the allegation went to the league, and they took over. That's okay and we cooperated with the league and they ran it and we were privy with only some information and it was theirs to deal with.

Question 26: Going back to the bus trip, I know you can't do everything when it comes to buses, is it possible to have away days to the closest stadium. Is there a possibility to have even one?

Answer 26: We can work with you guys and make it happen, again, investing the money we did on the buses, we felt better spending that money helping every season member instead.

Question 27: Is Curt eligible for being a choice for Sporting Director? Is Clint eligible for being a choice for the Head Coach.

Answer 27:  I don't want to comment on who or who isn't on the list. but we are pleased with Curt and his role with the club. but also, there are a couple of guys who have been heavily involved as well, so we are pleased. and Clint has done well so far. so I'll leave that for now.

Question 28: Once the season ends and a Supporting Director is chosen, will Curt and Clint move back to their roles?

Answer 28: It will be up to the Sporting Director

Question 29: Can you speak to if Richie, who is currently on leave, will stay on leave until a Supporting Director is hired or return prior to that?

Answer 29: We offered leave to Richie, who accepted, so that he could have some time off.

Question 30: Can you speak to your relationship with the ownership and what their focus is in regards to success?

Answer 30: For Robert in particular, his only focus is MLS Cup. He is obsessed like that. For me I'm a more transitional soccer fan, for me it's trophies. For me, If we win MLS Cup, then it's the Concacaf Champions Cup, then maybe it's Club World Cup next. Everyone's focus is on a Cup. MLS is focus number 1.

Question 31: For a cup, like the US open cup, why are home games played in Gillette and not Harvard stadium or smaller venues to develop a more urban atmosphere?

Answer 31: Bruce wanted to have them here. That was a sporting decision that he wanted to make. I like the smaller venues for the cool environment, and Bruce said that for the sporting environment and what is best for the team, he preferred the smaller crowd at the bigger venue. It made teams uncomfortable. It's the Sporting versus President preference, and I went with what Bruce wanted to do. I think it was the right call by going with what he wanted to do, but it may vary in the future.

Question 32: Are games going to be only at 7:30 p.m. next season?

Answer 32: I think so. The league sets that, maybe there is some flexibility, but ultimately the league will make that call this offseason.

Question 33: How much of your involvement is making the schedule.

Answer 33: The league tries to balance either every other week you are home and away. I would love it if we had no home games in March, but you have to have some level of balance and they try to balance it out, but it's up to the league and how their scheduling gets weird. Leagues Cup adds to that, along with Champions Cup, US Open Cup, etc. It's a difficult process. but it's up to the league.

Question 34: How come we don't have pregame traditions like other teams. Also our banners aren't lit up like the Patriots ones. Why can't ours be celebrated like their banners are?

Answer 34: Pregame we can do a couple of things and work with what we are allowed to do. There are legal regulations we have to follow, but we can communicate with supporters and do something. In regards to banners, if we won an MLS Cup, our banner would be the same size as the Super Bowl banners. Our banners are different sizes based on the clubs perspective on which win was bigger than the other (Supporter Cup Banner versus Superliga Banners).
On the lighting, we'll work on it.

Question 35: You say we want to win the MLS cup, hopefully the champions league, maybe the club World Cup, regardless of size, we all know that is by spending money. Is there any way in 2024 that we will show that by spending money to get that star on the jersey to strive for the greatness that this club is striving for?

Answer 35: Within MLS, we are one of the highest spending clubs in MLS. We were in the top 10 in Concacaf. In salary, we're top in salary right now. In MLS, we're a weird league. and a lot of the top salary teams didn't even make the playoffs. I think we spend money smartly and I think that we are going to continue to do that to give ourselves a championship potential team.

Question 36: Will this team bring in a proven impact player?

Answer 36: We've rejected the ideology of getting someone because they are a big name. We have set a priority to go after the best players that will help us win, regardless of their name or not. If we didn't go that route, we wouldn't have Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, Dorde Petrovic, etc. If we didn't embrace that, I could say the sporting director will make decisions to make our team be quality and play a strategy where we play to the best of our level. They'll make the decisions, and the results will show. It's up to them.

After the 36th question, the session ended with a thank you to the members of both groups that took time out of their busy schedules to be at the summit. 

Cory Cloutier, President of The Rebellion stated after the event, “I am really glad we were able to have this summit before playoffs. I think we were able to help fans heal and get answers from the situation we are in. Brian did a great job in being honest and clear and showing his passion. His responses to some of the questions were eye opening and helpful. We hope to bring the supporter summit back again in the future. Possibly yearly or every so often.” 

 Aoife Creighton, President of the Midnight Riders stated, "It was a productive event. Brian was open and honest and added transparency to what we wanted to hear."