Red Sox Owners Increasing Team's Presence In Connecticut

Red Sox Looking To Take Some Of Yankees' Marketshare In Connecticut

The Red Sox' owners have "launched a concerted drive to increase the team's presence in Connecticut with everything from pep rallies to increasing the number of communities with access to the team's cable channel, [NESN]," according to Scott Van Voorhis of the BOSTON HERALD.  NESN "has spearheaded the team's drive" into Connecticut, gaining distribution in the western half of the state. Red Sox execs have also "expanded the network of radio stations in the state that carry the team's games." According to a study by Quinnipiac Univ., the number of Connecticut fans who now align themselves with the Red Sox has risen from 33% in '03 to 37% while the number of Yankees supporters has dropped by the same percentage to 43%.  Van Voorhis noted those numbers include "heavily populated" Fairfield County near N.Y., where the Red Sox are "barred by [MLB] from marketing" (BOSTON HERALD, 11/19).