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Earlier this week, I wrote about the huge step Stonehill is making by playing New Hampshire at home this season. Already, this game is a huge event for the program, but they can make it even bigger by moving it to a local ballpark.
Stonehill plays at W.B. Mason Stadium, which seats 2,400, making it the smallest stadium in the FCS. The atmosphere will definitely be electric at W.B. Mason Stadium, or "The Paperstack", as I am going to start calling it. However, the stadium may be too small for an opponent such as New Hampshire. Add in the fact that the University of New Hampshire boasts over 16,000 alumni in the Boston area, and the need for a larger venue is clear.
While Gillette Stadium is less than 30 minutes away from campus, it is clearly too big for a game like Stonehill-New Hampshire. Fortunately, there is a ballpark nine minutes away in Brockton that would be a suitable venue.
Campanelli Stadium in Brockton is home to the Brockton Rox of the Futures League. The stadium seats around 5,000, although other sources say 4.750. Either way, this is over 2000 more fans than what W.B. Mason Stadium holds. Not only is this an opportunity to make more money, but grow the Stonehill brand in the greater Boston area.
The school can treat the game like a bowl game, and celebrate the city of Brockton, which has a population of over 100,000. One can even call it the Marciano-Hagler Classic in honor of the city's two greatest heroes.
New Hampshire's Boston alumni base would show up in droves especially considering the fact that the Huskies have not played in the Boston area since 2011 when they played UMass at Gillette Stadium before the Minutemen left for the MAC. The 2010 and 2011 games at Gillette Stadium against UMass drew a combined 56,870 fans, proving Huskies fans will travel to Beantown
While the atmosphere at W.B. Mason Stadium would be electric for New Hampshire-Stonehill, the school would miss out on sums of money by not moving it to Campanelli Stadium. Additionally, it would be a rare experience for both Huskies and Skyhawks fans. Let's think out of the box, Stonehill and into the ballpark.
