Red Sox News: Fans will be in attendance at Fenway Park in 2021

Red Sox Nation will return to Fenway Park in 2021

The news that fans have been waiting, and begging, for has finally hit the wire. Earlier today, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker made the announcement that large venues with a capacity higher than 5000 will be allowed to have patrons once again? So what does that mean for Red Sox Nation? To put it simply, Fenway Park won’t be empty anymore, at least not totally.

Per Nick O’Malley and Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the Governor is starting his plan out with a 12% capacity cap and as the number of those vaccinated increases, that number could rise as well. Fenway can hold around 37,500 people which would allow the Red Sox to have about 4,500 people in the stands.

This is big news for the team as they’re looking to make some serious noise in 2021 and now they’ll have a rabid fanbase back in the house to push them on and off the field. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, who has been harping on getting fans back into Fenway for quite awhile was ecstatic with the news today.

“Today’s announcement by Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito outlining the Commonwealth’s timetable for entering Phase 4 in late March is a major step forward and a testament to the leadership of the state and our many health care partners working together,” Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy said in a statement.

Kennedy has been vocal over the last few months about wanting fans back in the Park and was honestly one of the few that seemed optimistic it would happen. With the Governor now giving the green light to teams with the proper facilities, I would expect a ticket announcement in the near future. Boston has made it known that season ticket holders will get first dibs with anything left becoming fair game.

Fenway Park has been a vaccination site for Massachusetts while the Red Sox have been off and even with the regular season right around the corner, they’re looking to continue that effort. The team and state officials will work to continue using Fenway for vaccinating people even while the season is underway, coordinating with the schedule for off days and while the team is away.

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I think I can speak for many if not all when I say that trying to watch baseball last year without a crowd was a miserable experience. I will say though, some teams were able to get the piped-in crowd noise down to a science, the Red Sox being one of those teams. With the schedule back to the regular 162 games, Boston will get to have fans being wild for 81 home games.

Obviously, there will be precautions taken with fans back in the building but from everything we saw during the NFL season, things can be done and done safely. Considering the fact that Gov. Baker has been one of the more conservative leaders in regards to opening things back up during the pandemic, I’m sure the Sox will have a list a mile long to get things going again.

“Things are trending in the right direction and that’s another step,” Alex Cora added. “Hopefully, whenever we can, we’re going to have a packed house and that’s going to be really special.”

I couldn’t think of a better time for Massachusetts to open the gates back up to Fenway Park than for this upcoming season. Though they didn’t get fast and loose with the spending, they did bring in some exciting players that will surely help this team finish much higher in the standings. There’s a more positive outlook for the 2021 campaign than there was even a few weeks ago and adding fans back into the equation will only boost that optimism.