The Boston Red Sox don't know the timeline for when fans will be allowed back at Fenway Park, but Sam Kennedy said the organization will be ready when they are.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday via Zoom, the Red Sox CEO and president revealed there apparently was a plan in place to host about 7,000 fans at games in September. It was put on hold after the local government tightened COVID-19 restrictions in Boston and Major League Baseball's decision to prohibit fans during the season.
Kennedy hopes there will be fans in 2021, but there's still much to wait out with the spread of the virus.
"We had a plan for September of this year that we were comfortable with, signed off by medical experts for reduced capacity," Kennedy said. "It wasn’t appropriate to move forward with that. So we have that on the shelf.
"It’s really hard to know what next year is going to bring. So we will be prepared, I can tell you that, to welcome fans back to Fenway, whether it is in a socially distanced environment, which we can do, reduced capacity or in a 50% capacity or in full capacity on the optimistic side."
As the Red Sox go through the offseason, they'll have a close eye on how another local team handles welcoming spectators back.
"We’ve been studying vaccines and therapeutics and realistic timetables," Kennedy said. "It’s really tough. It seems like this virus is going to be around for a while. Hopefully advancements will come soon. But I guess the appropriate way to answer the question is because we don’t know what next year is going to look like with respect to public gathering and crowds, we will be prepared for every scenario. That puts a lot of strain on our ticketing department, on our costumers. But we’ll be ready. I think the first cue will come from the New England Patriots and what happens down at Gillette Stadium. We’re watching that very carefully."
Kennedy knows fans want to be back at Fenway Park, and he can't wait until that day is upon us.
But for now, everything remains a little gray.
