Worcester Red Sox

In February 2015, a group of New England business leaders, led by Larry Lucchino, purchased the Pawtucket Red Sox, Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox since 1973.[1] By mid-April, ownership was exploring moving the team from Pawtucket to Providence, Rhode Island.[2] In September, Governor of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo stated that the land in Providence being considered for a stadium, "was not suitable and there were too many obstacles that remained."[3] During 2016, a feasibility study was conducted on potential renovations of the team's Pawtucket ballpark, McCoy Stadium; and from mid-2017 to mid-2018, building a new ballpark in Pawtucket was explored.[4][5]

A financing arrangement for partial public-funding of new stadium in Pawtucket was rejected by team ownership, who announced on August 17, 2018, that the team would relocate to a new stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts, in April 2021.[6] While it was initially reported that team would be named the Worcester Red Sox, the club announced a "name-that-team" competition in November 2018.[7] The team name was officially announced on November 25, 2019,[8] and confirmed to be the Worcester Red Sox with "WooSox" as the nickname.[9]

A new ballpark is being constructed for the team, targeting to open in April 2021.[6] It is projected to cost $86–$100 million, of which approximately $65 million will be paid by the City of Worcester.[10] It will seat 10,000 spectators and will be called Polar Park, through a sponsorship and naming rights agreement with Polar Beverages, which is headquartered in Worcester. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on July 11, 2019.[11] On April 1, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, construction work on the ballpark was suspended.[12] Approximately seven weeks later, construction resumed on May 18.[13]

On December 4, 2019, the team announced that uniform number 6 would be permanently retired, in honor of the six Worcester Fire Department firefighters who perished exactly twenty years prior, in the line of duty while fighting the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire.[14]

In March 2020, WORC-FM (an affiliate of Nash Icon) was named as the team's flagship radio station.[15] The broadcasters as of 2021 are Josh Maurer, Mike Antonellis, and Jim Cain.

• Bonner, Michael (November 12, 2019). "'We can't forget': Worcester Red Sox retire No. 6, will reserve seats to honor memory of city's fallen firefighters". masslive.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
• "Why WooSox?". MiLB.com. 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

• Official website