Worcester Business Journal

38 Worcester Business Journal | October 25, 2021 | wbjournal.com F A C T B O O K W O R C E S T E R R E D S O X 202 Brigham St., Northborough, MA • 508-393-2444 For Tee Times: www.juniperhillgc.com Juniper Hill Golf Course Celebrating Over 85 Years of Golf • Friendly Atmosphere • Two well groomed, established courses • No membership fee • Excellent meeting facilities • 36 Challenging Holes • Top 10 Public Golf Course in Massachusetts • Golf Teaching Center Call us at 508-351-9500 Give the gift of golf Gift certificates for golf, lunch, lessons and equipment are available in the Pro Shop 508-393-2444 Outings & Functions 3 to 300 guests in a variety of settings July 31, when Boston Red Sox All-Star Chris Sale pitched a rehab game. Polar Park then averaged 6,776 fans per game in August and 7,830 in September, which ended with the second sellout capacity of 9,508 on Sept 26. Rea said the team expects to have more games in 2022 where the stadium hits its 9,508 capacity, as well as more high ticket-sale games with more than 8,500 fans. Seven games hit that 8,500+ attendance in 2021. In addition to limiting capacity at the season's start, the coronavirus created uncertainty in the WooSox front office, as team officials spent the winter and early spring not knowing if they could even sell tickets to games, Rea said. is coming winter, the team now can aggressively market its ticket packages, meet with more fans and sponsors, and spread the buzz generated in the inaugural season, he said. Less enthusisam, more certainty e honeymoon period minor league teams experience aer opening a new stadium typically leads to a bump of about 2,200 fans per game in the inaugural season, which then slowly deteriorates until that increase is about 200 in the 10th season, Matheson said. Although the enthusiasm for the team will dip slightly in the second season, the team will benefit as uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic dips as well, Matheson said. "e challenge is not only getting people to come for a game, but to then come back for another game," Matheson said. "It is a great stadium. ere is no doubt about that." e attendance figures only told part of the 2021 story, he said, as the demand for Worcester minor league baseball spiked ticket prices from what the team charged in Rhode Island. "Financially, they probably had a very successful year," Matheson said. Stadium payments at team success, though, may not translate into the City of Worcester's efforts to pay for the cost to build the public stadium strictly using funds generated from within the special district surrounding the ballpark, Matheson said. Fewer tickets mean fewer fees collected to go toward the city's bond payments on the stadium, he said. A surrounding development from Boston firm Madison Properties set to feature hotels, apartments, office space, and retail, which was originally anticipated to open mostly at the same time as the stadium and generate significant tax revenues to cover stadium costs, has been delayed years and shrunk in size. e city's portion of the $160-million construction costs is $88.2 million, while the team is paying $60.2 million and the state and federal governments kicked in $10.7 million. "e city is in a fairly significant hole right now," Matheson said Although the city is in a hole on Continued from previous page The WooSox had two home games reach Polar Park's planned 9,508 capacity - July 31, when Boston Red Sox All-Star Chris Sale pitched, and Sept. 26, which was the final home game of the season.

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