FOXBORO -- Major League Soccer is in the preliminary stages of looking for a new home for the New England Revolution.

The league has been making a major push in recent years to get its teams out of large football stadiums and into smaller facilities more conducive to soccer.

The Revolution play in 68,000-seat Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, home to the New England Patriots.

Soccer fans complain that the stadium, while beautiful, is too cavernous for the 12,000 people who regularly attend Revolution games.

Crowd noise gets lost in the expanse of Gillette and fans are far removed from the action on the field. Brian Bilello, chief executive officer for the Revolution, said the team is happy at Gillette, but is willing to listen to ideas for a soccer stadium.

He said Major League Soccer is taking the lead in looking at possible new locations.

`` The league is driving this,'' he said.

Don Garber, commissioner of MLS, is in Germany attending the World Cup competition, and was unavailable for comment.

The league, however, is expected to release information this week on what it is interested in as far as a soccer stadium.

Requests for proposals will go out to Greater Boston communities seeking potential sites for a stadium.

The Patriots, Revolution and Gillette Stadium are all owned by the Kraft family.

Jonathan Kraft, president and CEO of Kraft Group, recently said on WEEI radio that the family could be interested in building a soccer stadium in Boston in the future.

The league is not limiting the search to just the city itself, but will look throughout the general area.

When MLS was founded 11 years ago, its teams located in large football stadiums to show it was serious about being a first-class, professional league. But the large stadiums soon proved impractical for small crowds and lacked atmosphere, according to fans and league officials.

In recent years several smaller, soccer-only stadiums have been built.

The Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, Los Angles Galaxy and Chicago Fire have moved into facilities that were specifically designed for soccer. All have seating for about 20,000 fans.

JIM HAND can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.