Sports
Red Sox President: It’s a ‘Possibility’ Fans Can Attend Games at Fenway Park
Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty ImagesBoston Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy has not ruled out fans returning to Fenway Park this season. While speaking with reporters on a Wednesday evening conference call, Kennedy said opening up the stands is a “possibility,” though it would have to remain in accordance with state and local social distancing…
Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Boston Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy has not ruled out fans returning to Fenway Park this season.
While speaking with reporters on a Wednesday evening conference call, Kennedy said opening up the stands is a “possibility,” though it would have to remain in accordance with state and local social distancing guidances as the coronavirus continues to spread, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe.
“We need fans at Fenway Park.” Kennedy said, via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. “Our fans give us a competitive advantage. I can tell you there are clubs around Major League Baseball that are anticipating having fans in their ballparks. It's an incredibly important part of our business and an incredibly important part of our baseball operation, so we would like to get to that point. I can't tell you when that would happen. We are working through the protocols that would be required to pursue that opportunity someday in the future.”
The Red Sox are set to train at Fenway Park beginning on July 1 in the lead-up to Opening Day on either July 23 or July 24. Cotillo adds Kennedy plans to meet with the state's reopening advisory committee next month to discuss an array of topics that includes allowing fans back into stands.
Should fans be allowed into the park, social distancing and mandatory face coverings would remain in place with any new guidelines from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention implemented as well.
“I think it's incredibly important that we start, when it's safe, to start to try to get back to some sense of normalcy,” Kennedy said. “For me, that has always been going to baseball games. I think our fans want that and ultimately, our players want that.”
Major League Baseball will only permit fans in stadiums where clubs have received local and state clearance to do so.
Boston mayor Marty Walsh told the Boston Globe in May not to expect fans at Fenway before September.
Massachusetts is currently in Phase 2 of 4 as it reopens its economy amid the pandemic with indoor dining and increased office capacity now allowed. According to NBC Boston's Marc Fortier, the state reported 17 COVID-19-related deaths on Monday, the lowest one-day total since April.
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