With the start of the baseball season still weeks away, plenty of Connecticut Red Sox fans have a chance to mingle with their favorite players this weekend.
Twenty-four current members of the team, coaches, and 12 alumni players will join thousands of fans at Foxwoods Resort Casino for a range of events including panels, a town hall meeting, and activities for kids.
Adam Grossman, chief marketing officer for the Boston Red Sox, said baseball, and many other sports, are looking for ways to reach out to the next generation of young fans.
“There are so many more options for kids these days,” he said. “You’re competing for their hearts and minds. And so I think everyone in this sports and entertainment space has to look at themselves and ask how are we going to connect in a very different way given all the technology and with so many different choices.”
This is the fourth year the Red Sox team has come to Connecticut for a Winter Weekend.
Grossman said the state is important and the Sox are well aware that Connecticut is a land divided: the closer you get to the Bronx and the New York Yankees, fan loyalty shifts from red to blue.
“We always felt like Connecticut was a bit like a fault line,” he said. “Hartford is the Mason-Dixon line of the New York and Boston territory. Closer to New York, people are not drinking the Red Sox Kool-Aid as much.”
This weekend’s event is sold out. But baseball fans - don’t despair! There are only 69 days until opening day.
