Venue Detail
Boston Red Sox
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
January, 2010
Boston Red Sox
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4 Yawkey Way Boston, MA 02215-3496 Phone: 617-267-9440 Fax: 617-236-6640 URL: www.redsox.com Owner: John Henry and an ownership group League: Major League Baseball American League, Eastern
Venue
Fenway Park, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston, MA 02215-3496 Owner: John Henry and an ownership group Managed by: Owner Built: 1912 Capacity: 36,298 Permanent concession stands: 24 Concessionaire: Aramark Suite caterer: Aramark Soft drink: Coca Cola Beer: Multiple
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $1,710 to $7,290 Single tickets range from $12.00 to $325.00 2007 average attendance: 36,675 2008 average attendance: 37,633 2009 average attendance: 37,811
Luxury Suites
Quantity: 40 Term: 10 to 10 years Price: $250,000 to $350,000 Seats: 22 to 22 Includes: Tickets, parking.
Club seats
Quantity: 406 Term: 1 to 1 years Price: $12,150 to $22,275 Includes: Priced in groups of four. Price shown is 25 percent of full price. Tickets and parking.
Financing
The $420,000 stadium was built with private money. Pct. public: 0
The Boston Red Sox eliminated their .406 Club section behind home plate for 2006 and made room for two layers of open-air seating, both backed by cushy function room/restaurants for those who wish to come in from the cold or wind at Fenway Park. The seats are in an area called "The Pavilion."
Fenway also debuted the EMC Club in 2006. Memberships cost $275 per game and the menu is intended to make the club a destination for power broker lunches. The restaurant seats 400.
The ballpark would grow from 36,298 seats now to 39,928 seats under plans the team is discussing with the city. Some of that space would be standing room, although there would be at least 37,000 seats. The work will take two years.
When the team's current owners took over the ballpark in 2002, they said they were inclined to renovate the Venue rather than build a new ballpark as the previous owners tried and failed to do.
The plan was to market Fenway as a brand, making a trip to the park more than simply going to a baseball game. The team also planned events for the Venue when the team is away. That could include showing games on the ballpark's video screen or giving fans a chance to play on the ballpark's turf. The team has made efforts on both those fronts, hosting Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffet in multiple concerts.
The team also looked at retail expansion next to Fenway Park to boost revenues. It planned to make Yawkey Way, the street in front of the ballpark, a concourse area that would open up retail opportunities. The Red Sox blocked off the street occasionally for events before and after games and is talking with the city about making it a pedestrian mall.
In 2003, the Red Sox made another move more intended to add to fan enjoyment of the Venue rather than boost revenue with extra seats. Dubbed the "Big Concourse," the team opened new concession facilities designed to make food and drink more accessible to underserved areas of the ballpark. Public facilities were also improved to make the area more appealing.
Perhaps the most successful addition were seats atop the famed Green Monster. The offering proved so popular that the seats went from discount pricing to premium pricing.
The moves have so impressed the city that it agreed to make $1.2 million in public improvements. The city will upgrade streets and sidewalks to make the area better for sidewalk restaurants and other activities. Trees and new lighting are intended to make the area safer and pleasant. The move is also intended to spur fresh investment in the neighborhood.
The problems of financing a new ballpark led the Boston Red Sox in 2000 to acknowledge they could not possibly be in a new home before 2005 and that new ownership was needed. The decision came after state legislators approved money to help build a new ballpark, but with a heavier burden for the team than it wanted to bear.
The team passed to John Henry, along with a group of other investors. Henry was the former owner of the Florida Marlins. That team was sold to Jeffrey Loria, former owner of the Montreal Expos.
The new ownership said it preferred renovation to building a new ballpark and began work to upgrade the venue. (Facilities, Financial, MLBTeamAmer, Professional Sports, Venue)