Worcester Red Sox

The first season for Worcester Red Sox at Polar Park got a major boost Thursday when Gov. Charlie Baker said he will allow sports facilities to host a limited number of fans starting March 22.

The Worcester Red Sox are slated to play their first game at Polar Park on April 13, the team announced Thursday. Current state laws won't allow any fans in attendance.

The Worcester Red Sox have survived a realignment of Minor League Baseball that eliminated professional affiliation for teams in Lowell and Norwich, Conn. Now, the WooSox will be part of a new 20-team league with six more teams than the old International League.

Polar Park's concession stands will include some well known Worcester restaurants among its options for Worcester Red Sox baseball games.

Early decisions on where Polar Park would be built and when it would open sent both the city and the Worcester Red Sox down a fast-moving, complicated path, pushing costs up from the initial $100.8 million estimate to the newly updated $159.5 million today.

Amid the boilerplate items and legalese – as well as financial terms that have been closely reported upon – here are 20 things to know from the lease.

The Worcester City Council approved unanimously Tuesday night new borrowing of $14 million to cover the latest cost overruns at the city-owned Polar Park baseball stadium.

The Worcester Red Sox's lease with the city to play for up to 35 years in Polar Park was approved Friday by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. The long-anticipated lease agreement commits the WooSox to play at Polar Park for at least 25 years, starting as soon as April.

Worcester City Councilors maintained strong support for the city-built Polar Park baseball stadium Tuesday night days after the project's latest total cost of $157 million was made public.

A proposed lease agreement between the Worcester Red Sox and the City of Worcester commits the city to at least $15 million in infrastructure improvements around Polar Park in addition to the ballpark's roughly $157-million cost.