Here’s exactly when Red Sox games should start at Fenway, according to readers
"The games take so long."
What time should games start at Fenway Park? The Red Sox want to know.
In an effort to boost local television ratings, the Red Sox recently hired an analytics company to evaluate start times at Fenway. Though we won’t likely see any scheduling changes until the 2023 season, we asked readers for their recommendations.
Weekday games at Fenway for the 2022 season will mostly start at 7 p.m., with some 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. games as well. Weekend games, which will be of particular focus, will primarily start around 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays.
So when would first pitch best fit into your life? Over 1,500 readers made it clear — majority vote says weekday games should start earlier at 6 p.m.
With a majority vote, respondents want the Sox to start weekday games earlier than in the past — 42% voted for 6 p.m. and 26% voted for 6:30 p.m. Twenty percent voted to keep them at a 7 p.m. start time. There were also some fans, each with 4% of the vote, who say they’d watch later at 7:30 p.m. and others who would watch no matter what time the game was on.
We also asked readers what time weekend games should start, and most readers voted for either a 1 p.m. (46%) or 4 p.m. (35%) start time.
Ahead we share a sampling of reader responses, the major takeaways on their ability watch a Red Sox game and how it would impact their lives.
Readers want to ‘get some shut eye.’
Many respondents said that the length of MLB games is a big factor to why they wanted earlier start times during the week.
“With the length of games people have to stay up too late to see the whole game,” said one reader from Auburn.
Earlier start times to games mean earlier endings, which many readers said would fit into sleep schedule better.
“The games take so long, that moving up to 6:30 p.m. allows you not to be up too late,” Chris from Shrewsbury said.
T. Murph from Beverly agreed and said, “[An earlier start] leaves time for dinner and hit a restaurant/bar after the game and still get some shut eye for the next day.”
Many readers have younger fans in mind.
Readers said it wasn’t just their own sleep schedule that stopped them from watching Sox games on TV and at Fenway, their little ones sleep schedules were kept in mind too.
“[An earlier start] provide[s] my little guys the opportunity to watch games during the week,” Leo P. said. The Andover parent also said that start times around 4 p.m. on the weekends is the optimal time for their schedule.
Jen from Waltham said school night starting times mean less baseball for her kids as well.
“My young children want to watch the Red Sox games and are only able to watch an inning or two because they start so late on school nights,” Jen said.
Rafael C. from Chelsea said it’s time to think of the young Red Sox fans when scheduling weeknight games.
“Children have to get up early and those that love the game don’t get to watch most games because they start so late,” he said.
Others who travel to Fenway want to get home ‘by a sensible time.’
Travel time to and from Fenway was also a big concern.
Many readers from outside of the city who attend games said that travel can be a nightmare for them before and after games at Fenway.
“We live in Vermont,” Roberto from Brattleboro, who favors a 6 p.m. said. “Leaving Fenway at 10:30, or even later, then hopping on the T to get the car at Alewife for 2 hours of driving to get home proves to be too much. That one hour earlier start can make a big difference.”
“The late innings generally are the most exciting,” Mike P. from Barrington, N.H. said. “People leave early to return home by a sensible time, often at the expense of seeing the very best of the game they paid good money to see.”
An earlier start time has some commuters concerned about a potential ‘nightmare.’
“The T will be a nightmare during the week if games start earlier,” one reader said.
Brenda D. from Tilton, N.H. said that the later weekday start times work for her and her commute to Fenway as well.
“[The games are] easier to get to on weeknights and weekends when having the start times we are used to,” she said. “Especially with traffic being a consideration. For those of us living outside of Boston or Mass., it’s easier to get to a 7 p.m. game than it is earlier in the day.”
Jeff R. from Dunstable agreed.
“Weekday traffic will make anyone coming from outside the city late if games start any earlier than 7pm,” he said.
John, a Sox season ticket holder from Rye Beach, N.H. agreed.
“Weekday games would be a disaster if it’s before 7. Traffic would be a nightmare,” he said. “I’d highly consider dropping my tickets if this happened.”
There are the some fans who will ‘ALWAYS’ watch.
“I love the Sox and will watch when they are on no matter the time,” Mayne F. from Colebrook said.
Other die-hards feel the same way.
“I’m a lifelong Red Sox Fan, also going to Spring Training every Year, I watch them whenever they’re on, ALWAYS!” Charlene G. from Rockland said.
Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
Is the MLB lockout affecting your enjoyment of the Red Sox?
Start times at Fenway wont matter unless the MLB lockout ends. How will the lockout affect your feelings toward the Red Sox? Will you still be interested in the Sox if the MLB plays a shorter season in 2022? Let us know your thoughts in the form below or email us at [email protected] and your response will be featured in an upcoming article.
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