McAdam: With home opener just over two weeks away, Red Sox prepare to welcome fans back to Fenway

The Red Sox' home opener is April 1, just over two weeks away, and for the first time since September 2019, there will be fans in attendance.

Not anywhere near a full house, of course. In fact, Massachusetts guidelines, effective March 22, will limit the number of fans in attendance to 12 percent of the ballpark's capacity, resulting in approximately 4,500 for the regular-season opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

But it's a start.

"We've done everything we possibly can to accommodate two constituencies -- our season ticket holders and the general public,'' said Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy. "We made pre-sales available to our season ticket holders and put a limit for them to buy a select amount of seats for a limited amount of games. We're just going for April first because we're anticipating capacity increases as the season goes along.

"But we're affirmatively holding back some tickets for a general public on-sale, but obviously, it's an extremely limited number of tickets. We're selling them in what we're calling 'pods' in two, four and six. The idea is that you come with people from your household or people you're comfortable with.''

Masks will be mandated within Fenway, but ticketholders do not have to provide proof of vaccinations or a negative COVID-19 test, as some facilities have demanded.

"Operationally, it would be too cumbersome, so we're not doing that,'' Kennedy said.

Season ticket holders were given their first opportunity to purchase tickets earlier this week. Single-game tickets for the general public will begin at some point next week.

Kennedy said the response from season ticket holders has been enthusiastic.



"Very, very positive,'' said Kennedy. "We weren't sure what the reaction was going to be because this is all new. But the reaction seems to be that there's a lot of interest in coming to the ballpark. Hopefully, people understand the protective measures we've taken with respect to COVID.''

Kennedy said the Sox have studied over 100 sports facilities across the country -- including spring training ballparks in both Florida and Arizona -- in recent weeks.

"To our knowledge, there hasn't been a single outbreak tied to any live sporting events,'' Kennedy said. "The fact that we're an outdoor environment with obviously great ventilation gives people comfort as well. And also, it helps that the data is significantly improving, as vaccines are being rolled out.''

The Red Sox are still putting together plans for health and safety protocols at the ballpark and next week will announce safety plans in place for queuing for restrooms and concession stands. Markers on the concourse will ensure social distancing and food and beverage provider Aramark will also have protocols in place for its staff and sale of its products.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that the team has installed hospital-grade ultra-violet technology to kill pathogens at high-touch areas of the ballpark.

As the club understands it, there will be a willingness to expand capacity as the season progresses, and if the data supports such a jump, more fans could be allowed in May or June. Data points will include the case rate, local hospitalization rates and distribution of the vaccine to more members of the population.

"We are hopeful,'' Kennedy said, "that we can present a bit of a roadmap to a safe return to full capacity at some point. We don't know when, though, and it's something that we're working on together with city and state officials. Right now, we're focused on executing well on the 12 percent and then we'll pivot to whether it makes sense to expand.''

Kennedy envisions a 70/30 split between season ticket holders and individual game ticket holders for the start of the season.

The Sox are offering a discount to season ticket holders for 2021 while single-game ticket prices will remain what they would have been for 2020, though some tickets will be subject to "dynamic pricing,'' based on demand and quality of opponent.

Some teams -- notably, the Texas Rangers -- have already been given the go-ahead by local government officials to allow full capacity and Kennedy is hopeful the Sox can get there before the end of the season.

"I would hope that once the vaccines are widely distributed, we would be able to be at full capacity,'' Kennedy said. "It would be incredible if that could happen sometime this summer, but we recognize that we might have to wait (until later in the season).''