The Boston Red Sox have reached an agreement with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Boston police, and several community groups to begin selling mixed alcoholic beverages to fans with seats throughout Fenway Park.
During a hearing before the Boston Licensing Board, Red Sox officials said they sealed the agreement during a recent meeting with Boston police and other city officials. The Red Sox agreed to limit the sale of the mixed drinks to five refreshment stands and to move one of those stands farther away from the bleacher section.
Even after obtaining City permission, the Red Sox would still need the approval of the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, a process that could take another few weeks.
Team officials have said that there would be no sales of straight hard liquor to fans in general seating areas, and that the alcohol content of the mixed drinks would be no greater than the alcohol content of a cup of beer.
To appease the concerns of police and Mayor Menino, the Red Sox also agreed to halt the sale of mixed drinks two hours after the games begin. Beer sales are allowed until the end of the seventh inning or 2 ½ hours after the game starts.
The concerns that were previously voiced by Menino and police stemmed from a variety of incidents during the mid-2000s, when beer sales at Fenway soared and complaints about inebriated fans and rowdy behavior rose significantly, according to the Boston Globe.
Team officials and Boston licensing board members now agree that the number of complaints about drunkenness at Fenway has dropped and that fan behavior in the bleachers has improved markedly.
