Opening Day Bringing Big Money to Fenway Businesses

The Red Sox are back in Boston and that means big money for the surrounding area

The Red Sox are back in Boston and that means big money for the surrounding area.

Fenway Park is a sell-out just about every game. It’s about as consistent as a Bill Belichick sound-byte.

That means 40,000 people in one small area, ready to have some fun and spend some money.

For bars and restaurants surrounding Fenway Park, business goes from relatively slow and steady one day to an absolute crush of people on Opening Day.

Dana van Fleet, co-owner of the Cask ‘n Flagon, has been doing this for more than two decades.

He said, “On a non-ballgame, we could have on a slow day as little as 50 people throughout a day. On a busy baseball game, we could have as many as 5,000 coming through the doors.”

He added, “It's funny, I was just thinking the other day, I still get excited thinking about opening. Driving into work, I get those butterflies even after 26 years, I still get that.”

He also gets the fact that in those 26 years, business around Fenway has exploded, and so has the competition, where there used to be three or four places to get some pre-game food or drink. Now, options are everywhere.

Right across the street at Game-On they have their A-game on.

Jake Nicholson, General Manager, said, “Opening Day is quite an experience. That and Marathon Monday are the two days people are really, really just excited. We open early, 8 a.m., and at 10 a.m. we will have line every year.”

Although the crowds are thinner in the off-season, with tours and more and more residential life around the area, there's money to be made 12 months a year.

So a place like Game-On isn't just food, tv and beer. It's now ping pong and corn-hole.

Then, there's the gear. Everyone needs new gear for a new season. The Yawkey Way store has tripled in size over the last decade.

Tim Pettit, Team Store Manager, said, “Opening Day will be our busiest day of the year, barring a WS appearance, and it's tough because you don't have time to rev up your business. It’s your busiest day on your first day, so we really need to be ready to go.”

And they are ready with shirts of all types and sizes as well as over 100 different hats, from the traditional to the not-so-traditional.

The biggest buzz this off-season is Pablo Sandoval, whose nickname is “The Panda.”

Pettit said, “We normally don't carry animalware. It doesn't even say Red Sox on there anywhere. People know that this is his nickname. He’s “Panda.” Big, bubbly personality and we're expecting to sell a lot of these.

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