Bok Denies Pro Team Use of Harvard Stadium

After more than a year of discussion between the University and the Boston Breakers, President Bok has decided that Harvard Stadium will not be the home of the new United States Football League (USFL) team.

Bok told the team's president in a letter last week his chief reason for turning the Breakers down was a fear that USFL games at Harvard might disrupt the University's academic environment.

Breaker President Robert Caporale said yesterday in an interview that the team would have guaranteed the University $25,000 per home game and a share of all concession proceeds in exchange for use of the Stadium. With the football club assuming the costs of ticket-takers, security guards and other temporary employees, Harvard stood to gain approximately $2.5 million over the nine-game season.

Robin Schmidt, University vice president for government and community affairs, said yesterday that a concern for the rights of local residents was another major factor in Harvard's decision. "There was very strong opposition from the Allston-Brighton community," Schmidt explained.

"The Allston-Brighton Civic Association, an organization of residents from the area surrounding the Stadium, led local opposition to professional football at Harvard. Citizens warmed that USFL games would produce unmanageable traffic jams and attract unwelcome visitors to their neighborhoods, Schmidt said.

Despite Harvard's argument that the community strongly opposes basing a professional football team here, Breakers officials have predicted their team would quickly gain popularity in the area.

"Harvard Stadium's in Boston," Caporale said. "That's where the fans wanted us to play."

Boston Mayor Kevin White wrote a letter to Bok this summer urging Harvard to welcome the fledling team. The USFL will begin its first season next year, competing with the established National Football League (NFL).

"We're going to generate millions of dollars that will be lost by the city if we can't play our games here," Caporale said. He added that "there isn't any place left" for the Breakers "except Foxborough," home of the NFL New England Patriots.

The Patriots played for two years at the Stadium in the early 1970s, but Harvard Athletic Director John Reardon said that arrangement was specifically a temporary one while the Patriots hurried to complete Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough.

Reardon also said that holding professional sports events at Harvard's facility would pose a general problem for the University. "We're philosophically opposed to mixing amateurism and professionalism." Reardon said, "It's never an easy marriage."