Checking in on construction at Tidewater Landing – WUN visits stadium and meets General Manager Paul Byrne

When the RI FC stadium, known as Tidewater Landing, opens next Spring, fans can certainly expect to see some great soccer. But that’s not all that’s going to be happening.

Although nothing has been officially announced, stadium officials envision a variety of sporting events, concerts, and community activities in a stadium that will even encourage “sail-gating” along the Seekonk River.

WUN recently got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium under construction along the Pawtucket waterfront. When finished, it will be among the most modern sports facilities in the world, designed for soccer and much more.

We met with Stadium General Manager Paul Byrne, who took us on a tour of the project, which he estimated was 60% complete as of the end of September. On the day we were there, workers were beginning to install seats, with work on the giant video board and the artificial turf field expected to begin soon.  

When finished, the stadium will hold 10,500 permanent seats, plus additional capacity on the field for fans at concerts and other events expected to keep things busy throughout most of the year. There’s even talk of installing a temporary hockey rink in the winter months.

“This is a multi-use soccer stadium,” said Byrne. “The plan is to have large concerts, up to 16,000 people here. It’s a nice intimate setting for a concert; there’s nothing really like it around the area, with the water serving as a nice backdrop.”

Even before fans enter the stadium on gamedays, the outdoor plaza will be bustling. “A beer garden will be a great activation point for fans,” says Byrne. The plaza will be busy with fan activities, sponsors, and additional pre-game rituals, “an active atmosphere,” he adds. “It’ll be very festive.” Fans will be able to access concessions and bathrooms from outside the stadium, which is generally not seen at other venues.

The fan experience will be the priority once inside the stadium, according to Byrne. There will be numerous seating options, including nine suites with outdoor seating and great site lines. “We will have the best stadium in USFL. 60% of our capacity is in the lower bowl. We’ll have Amazon Go markets, with grab-and-go purchasing,” added Byrne. The club section, at 3,000 square feet, will be busy on gamedays and be available for private events most of the year.

The field surface is designed to be flexible. “It will be a turf field, not grass, which gives us the ability to flip things pretty quickly, so not only will we have our FC games, but we’ll have lacrosse, we’ll have football, definitely concerts,” said Byrne. In fact, engineers have already marked locations for soccer, football, and rugby goalposts, with the expectation of hosting those sports and more. “The field is massive – we have over 108,000 square feet; for perspective, 80,000 of that is the soccer field, so we have plenty of room to do many different events.”

“My goal is to put an ice rink down in the winter and create an experience around that, kind of a mini-Winter Classic kind of thing,” continued Byrne. “At night, we could turn it into a holiday festival. We’re really being bullish on how we’re going to program this. You could have a soccer game on a Friday, a football game on Saturday, a rugby game on a Sunday. It gives us that flexibility and versatility.”

The team is working closely with officials from the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and other local stakeholders. “We’re spending time dialing into the community,” he said. “What is currently happening, and what can we make better? What can we bring to the table that the community hasn’t seen before but could benefit from? We hope to tap into some of the high school championships here, college championships, even NCAA tournaments.”

Officials expect the riverfront venue to be completed in the Spring of 2025. The project has stayed close to its original schedule, and organizers expect to receive a certificate of occupancy in April, 2025.

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