Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said that the team as of last Thursday had sold about 1,675,000 tickets for '17 -- "up from 1,580,000 sold from the same date a year ago" -- a 6% increase, according to Evan Drellich of the BOSTON HERALD. Kennedy said, "There’s about 50,000 tickets more than we had sold on this date in 2014. There seems to be even more ticket demand this offseason than following a World Series year. I was a little bit -- obviously pleasantly surprised -- but I was surprised." Drellich noted '17 season-ticket renewals are "outpacing last year as well," with 81.1% buying in again as of Thursday, compared to 76.6% "signed up to return at the same time a year ago." Kennedy: "(We’re) sort of building on the momentum that we had last year." Kennedy said the team's fan base feels like the trade for P Chris Sale was a "huge step forward." Meanwhile, Kennedy said that about $9M in upgrades to Fenway Park is to be "completed by Opening Day." That includes the "addition of seats between the dugouts, a right-field grandstand bar, a new video board on the right field side where the Cumberland Farms sign used to stand, four new suites in the State Street Pavilion, plus a bullpen wall that will be removable going forward, allowing Fenway to better adapt to non-baseball events" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/15).
TALKING PUCK: The Frozen Fenway series of college hockey games wrapped up yesterday, and in Boston, John Connolly writes there "probably won't be" a Hockey East conference "extravaganza at Fenway Park next winter." However, that will not be the "end of the partnership." Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna said, "I’ve already talked with Sam Kennedy and they’re interested about continuing this in the future." Bertagna said that 35,979 tickets were sold for the league’s two doubleheaders -- Boston Univ.-UMass and Boston College-Providence the previous weekend, plus Maine-UConn and Northeastern-New Hampshire this last one -- and that "more than 205,000 have attended the four events" in '10, '12, '14 and '17. Future events "might alter the formula some, with items to discuss including possible interleague matchups and making Hockey East games count as nonleague." Bertagna: "I do think that it’s a special opportunity for the kids. They do act like kids when they’re out there on the ice at Fenway Park and they stop to look around the place" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/16).
CHECK PLEASE: YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg reported UConn as part of playing a home football game at Fenway Park next season is getting a guarantee of $1.125M and "rights to 22,0000 of the nearly 40,000 tickets that will be available" for the game against Boston College. It is the "biggest game guarantee in school history." Meanwhile, BC "doesn't get any compensation for the game since it was scheduled to be the road team" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/13).
