When the Red Sox released their 2020 schedule Monday night, there was a noticeable change in the scheduled start times for night games at Fenway Park. Instead of scheduling a 7:10 first pitch for those matchups like they’ve done in previous years, the Red Sox scheduled all of their home night games for 7:30 p.m.
Team president and CEO Sam Kennedy said it wasn’t an accident.
“The move from 7:10 to 7:30 is unique to this year - designed to maximize viewership and listenership at home,” Kennedy wrote in an email. “Obviously we hope to have fans in the ballpark at some point this season and we will revisit start times should that become a reality.”
With no revenue coming from ticket prices (at least at the start of the season), the at-home viewing and listening experience is more crucial than ever for the Red Sox (and other clubs) in 2020. Research must have suggested pushing start times back by 20 minutes would increase ratings on NESN and WEEI.
As Kennedy pointed out, the Red Sox are still holding out hope that fans will be let into Fenway Park for games later this summer, potentially changing the club’s calculus. At that point, it seems likely game times would be moved back to 7:10 p.m. or switched to afternoon starts.
On June 24, Kennedy said the club was hopeful and cautiously optimistic that the local and state regulations would allow them to host fans this season. Major League Baseball is letting each individual team decide whether or not to have fans based on rules and regulations in each locale.
“We are hopeful to have fans at some point,” Kennedy said. “We need fans at Fenway Park. Our fans give us a competitive advantage. I can tell you there are clubs around Major League Baseball that are anticipating having fans in their ballparks. It’s an incredibly important part of our business and an incredibly important part of our baseball operation, so we would like to get to that point. I can’t tell you when that would happen. We are working through the protocols that would be required to pursue that opportunity someday in the future.”
Twenty-three of the Red Sox’ 30 home games will start at 7:30 p.m., with six scheduled for 1:35 p.m. and one (Aug. 13) at 4:30 p.m.
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