Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | January 22, 2024 | wbjournal.com What's your overall perspective on the situation with the WooSox right now? Polar has really enjoyed the relation- ship with the WooSox. We're absolutely thrilled with the success of the team, the Polar Park baseball stadium, and what it's done for the community. It's just plain remarkable, when the state is losing a Q&A: An insider's perspective on the WooSox sale Representing his family, Ralph Crowley Jr. will be one of three remaining minority owners of the team and the one with the deepest Central Mass. connections thousand people a week and yet you see Worcester's population go over 206,000, it says some things around here are going pretty well. If you look at all the buildings going up around Polar Park, you get a sense of what it's done for the area. From Polar Beverage's perspective, this is our hometown. It's just awesome to see the revitalization going on in the city. e WooSox and Polar Park are a major part of it. Our financial commitment is signifi- cant, with naming rights, pouring rights, and being a minority owner of the team. Our view as a family is we desperately need this to be a success. We're not just being casual and throwing some money at it. We're going to do everything we can to help Diamond Baseball be successful in the city. e first thing Diamond has done is keep Chairman Larry Lucchino, Presi- dent Charles Steinberg, General Manager Dan Rea III, and Senior Vice President Jack Verducci in management. Diamond sees we're one of the top minor league baseball teams in terms of attendance, and Polar Park was voted the prettiest ballpark in the country, out of 122 teams. For Diamond, this is going to be the crown jewel of the 20-plus teams they've bought. From my conversations, they just want to keep plugging away and continue to grow. We have to thank 11+ owners from Rhode Island that helped make the decision and voted unanimously to leave and come to Worcester. But they don't have the ties here that we do. So if there's someone like Diamond that will buy them out and let it run, that's great. Going back to when you got involved, what inspired you to join the ownership team? e former owners are acquaintances of mine, including Terry Murray, Tom Ryan, and Bill Egan. ey asked if I would like to be part of the group. Since we made the largest financial commit- ment of the group for the naming rights, getting a seat at the table where we could understand what's going on behind the scenes, that's even better. We as a family felt it would be worthwhile having a piece of the ownership. I know your family has a lot of business ties with one another. Is this also a family affair? My four siblings and I are partners in most of our investments. We invested as a family in the WooSox. What has been your favorite part of being a WooSox owner so far? Polar had a fun event over the summer at the stadium where we had our mil- lion-mile drivers throw out the opening pitch. One of them had driven 6 million miles for the company. e pride these people had, wearing WooSox shirts and having Polar caps on, was great. My favorite part is what it's doing to make everyone in Worcester a little prouder, and it makes the Polar team proud to see our name on it. We're lucky enough to have a bunch of tickets as part PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER RED SOX A lready a prominent figure in the Central Massachusetts business community, Ralph Crowley Jr., president and CEO of Worcester drink manufacturer Polar Beverages, further increased his profile in 2019 through his entry into the ownership of the Pawtucket Red Sox, in the runup to the team's move to Worcester for the 2021. e sale of a majority of the now Worcester Red Sox to New York- based Diamond Baseball Holdings has been finalized, leaving Crowley as one of the more well-known local faces that has remained in the ownership group, as minority owners. WBJ sat down with Crowley in December to discuss how he got involved with the Worcester Red Sox, what the negotiations with Diamond were like, and what the transaction means for the team's future in the city. Fans stream into Polar Park during the Worcester Red Sox's inaugural 2021 season. Ralph Crowley Jr. (center) raises a toast of Polar Beverages' seltzer with WooSox Chairman Larry Lucchino (right) and Worcester Mayor Joe Petty (left) at the Polar Park groundbreaking in 2019. PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT

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