Red Sox Offering Food Discounts For April Games At Fenway Park
BOSTON (CBS) - While meetings against the Royals, A's and Astros may not put people in the seats at Fenway Park next month, the Boston Red Sox are hoping discounts on food and drinks will.
Two-for-one hot dog deals, discounted hot chocolate and a free kids meal are a few of the deals Boston's baseball team is offering in hopes of attracting more fans to Fenway.
But the $2.50 off beer is probably the most effective ploy to get fans back following a 93-loss season in 2012.
"We thought it would be a great way to welcome fans back to the ballpark in April with some special offers for families, for kids and for adults, just as a gesture of thanks," Red Sox COO Sam Kennedy told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 on Tuesday. "It's a small gesture to be sure. We know the best gesture is to have a winning and competitive baseball team."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports:
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"This is not a way to get people in the seats, " said Kennedy, "it's a way of saying thank you to our fans."
The gesture will certainly have fans walking out of the local ball yard a little heavier in the wallet (or at least feeling that way). Around Fenway, fans can buy one Fenway Frank and get one for free in the season's first month. For the little ones, kids under 14 can eat free for the first three innings as long as they head to special concession stands and pick up a kids meal that includes a Fenway Frank, Goldfish and juice. For those chilly April night games -- and there's 10 of them -- hot chocolate will be half price (now just $2). Most importantly, it will be just $5 for a 12-ounce beer, making it a much more reasonable price than the $7.50-$8.50 you would normally put down for a watered-down draft.
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There are a near-record 17 home games in April.
Boston's home opener on April 8 against the Baltimore Orioles is expected to be a sellout, but plenty of tickets for other April games still remain. Time will tell if the new food and beverage discounts put more fans in the stands.
The Red Sox have sold out 793 straight games (or at least distributed tickets to that many), but with interest in the team waning that streak is expected to officially end at some point next month.
"I don't know if more fans will come, but we just want to say thanks," said Kennedy.
And when asked if this was a way to avert breaking the 10-year sell-out streak, Kennedy said no.
"Winning is what puts people in the seats."
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields contributed to this report.
