Major League Baseball will look quite different in 2020 with a 60-game schedule and venues likely not allowing fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Massachusetts is one of the better states at presently containing the novel coronavirus, but fans will not be allowed to attend Boston Red Sox games at Fenway Park when they open the season July 24 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Sam Kennedy, though, is hopeful that will change as the season progresses.
“Commissioner (Rob) Manfred said it well: we’re going to walk before we run,” the Sox president and CEO said on MLB Network Radio, as transcribed by MassLive. “So we’ll start the season without fans, which I think regardless of where you’re playing is the absolute right thing to do. Let’s get up and running and see how things go. But I will tell you: given the data in Massachusetts — and given our operational plan thanks to our chief operating officer Jonathan Gilula and his entire staff — we feel that we are in a position now to accommodate fans on a limited basis. Just to give some normalcy to our fan base and our city and our region. This is not about money, per se. People equate that. Of course there’s revenue associated with fans at the park. And I’ve been very clear about that. We’ve got to have fans in our ballparks in the years ahead. It’s a key driver of our business.”
There’s no telling how coronavirus data will look in the coming weeks and months. But if it keeps trending in the right direction in Massachusetts, maybe fans will be able to head back to America’s Most Beloved Ballpark at some point this season.
But only time will tell.
