Red Sox Asked Social Influencers To Promote Team After Betts Trade

The Red Sox "reached out to a bunch of social media influencers in and around Boston" in the aftermath of trading Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in an effort to promote the team, according to a source cited by WEEI-AM's Rich Keefe. The team hoped that the influencers would "promote the Red Sox." Keefe asked, "Is that something they have ever needed?" He added the influencers are "people that you might not really even consider in that sports world." This season is "going to be one of those years where maybe we see more empty seats" at Fenway Park. The organization needs to "realize just how unpopular the team is right now and that's going to show up in a variety of ways." The team is "not as popular as it once was, and you take away your most popular player, that's going to happen" ("Dale & Keefe," WEEI-AM, 2/18).