Economic Forecast: WooSox face an uncertain year

PHOTO/GRANT WELKER Polar Park could begin hosting Worcester Red Sox games as soon as April, though with much of the economy, its future will be determined in the coming year by how the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control.

Write a Comment

By Grant Welker

Predicting the fate of any sports league’s season during the coronavirus pandemic is likely futile. Minor League Baseball didn’t attempt a 2020 season, and 2021 remains up in the air, along with the pace and effectiveness of any coronavirus vaccine. A few things are certain, though: any 2021 season not allowing for games to be played as normal would be very poor timing for the Worcester Red Sox.

An on-time Polar Park

Polar Park, the soon-to-be $132-million home stadium of the WooSox, appears to be improbably on track to open on time, for as soon as April. That’s in spite of what project leaders said was a tight timetable to begin with, plus a seven-week stop in construction during the initial pandemic wave. Team and city officials have been steadfast since then they plan to open on time. Only a second major COVID-19 wave that could halt construction again may be stopping them.

A most unusual season

It might seem hard to imagine a regular 2021 season, with a full schedule and full stadium. Major League Baseball played in 2020, but only with empty stadiums, a far shorter schedule and a calendar that kept changing as teams, with positive test results, had to reschedule games. There was enough TV revenue in play for the majors to take on the season, but the economics are far different in the minors. The WooSox season could start late, allowing for a less-rushed construction schedule for Polar Park, or with few or no fans in attendance. Calling off the season entirely wouldn’t be unheard of: the Worcester Railers have done the same, canceling the season expected to begin in January.

Related construction on hold

A major mixed-use development slated to rise around Polar Park has already been pushed off and downsized. The city’s bet that enough new tax revenue would come into Worcester’s coffers that the ballpark investment – at least $132 million – would more than pay for itself has so far backfired. As the project stands today, the first building in the surrounding development wouldn’t open until September 2022, about a year and half behind schedule. Construction was slated to start this fall on that first building, but that’s yet to happen; and a project that was hopeful to begin with has its work cut out of it with today’s demand for retail, office space and hotel rooms.