Fenway Park Ready For Year-Long Birthday Celebration
BOSTON (CBS) - Red Sox fans can expect to see a year-long celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park next year.
In a brief interview with CBSBoston.com following The Boston Globe's Media breakfast on "Playing For Profits, The Business of Boston Sports," Sox CEO Larry Lucchino indicated that the major celebration will be on the official anniversary date of April 20, 2012.
Among the highlights planned are the selection of the all-time Red Sox team and a commemorative book and video.
JetBlue Airways is the official airline partner of the Red Sox. Inbound trips to Fenway Park games will be an important part of the plan. Fans can follow the events on FenwayPark.com.
The Red Sox are expecting to draw over three million fans to home games this year and have had consecutive sell-outs since May 15th of 2003.
The other members of the sports' panel included Charlie Jacobs, President of the Bruins and Managing Partner Stephen Pagliuca of the Celtics. Jonathan Kraft of the Patriots was invited to participate but he is in China this week.
Sports is big business in Boston. The four professional teams bring in over $200 million of new spending into the city each year.
Lucchino indicated that 40 percent of home game attendance is from out of state.
Pagliuca termed the Boston sports fans the most sophisticated in the country.
All of the panelists praised the performance of the Bruins in the playoffs and hoped that the season would continue after tonight's game in Tampa.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," cautioned Charlie Jacobs. He stayed up until after midnight to see the Vancouver Canucks eliminate the San Jose Sharks.
Bob Weiss' "All Things Travel" reports can be heard weekends on WBZ.
