Do you have an upcoming home game with Boston College? If so, would you be interested in moving the game to Fenway Park? If so, Boston College will gladly accept that opportunity, even if it is designed to make it difficult for Eagles fans to make the short trip to see their team in action.
On Thursday, it was announced UConn will move a home game against Boston College to Fenway Park as one of a handful of football games scheduled to be played on the historic baseball field during the 2017 season. Brown will host Dartmouth on November 10, and UMass will play Maine on November 11. The following Saturday will see the Huskies and Eagles in another regional battle for college football superiority and bragging rights. But yes, Boston College will be the road team, and this is not the first time Boston College has taken on that role in Fenway Park.
Boston College played Notre Dame in Fenway Park in 2015, taking on the road team role so close to their home campus. That is because Notre Dame selected and organized an arrangement to use Fenway Park for their destination in Notre Dame’s annual Shamrock Series game, which is designed to take Notre Dame on the road for a neutral site game against an opponent. Last year, Notre Dame played Army in San Antonio, for example.
Boston College was offered the opportunity to move a home game to Fenway Park during the 2017 season, but the school reportedly turned it down. That led Fenway Sports Management to turn to UConn with the same offer, and the Huskies jumped at the opportunity. A game against Boston College was the most ideal matchup to move for the Huskies, as it will likely net a larger crowd than a regular home game against Boston College would have.
And the bottom line is, of course, the bottom line. UConn will receive a reported $1.1 million for the game, which is $1.1 million Boston College will not be receiving. UConn will also get 22,000 of the 39,000 available seats for the game to sell and profit off of, while Boston College will only get 7,000 tickets to sell.
While Boston College may be getting the raw end of the financial benefits here, the Eagles will still be happy to have a road game played just miles away from its campus, and it is expected Boston College fans will still be well represented. Not that playing on the road at UConn would have been a huge road trip for the school and its fanbase, but the travel expenses to get to Fenway Park compared to UConn are still more favorable for BC, which sometimes easily gets glossed over.
Maybe the day will come when Boston College moves a home game to Fenway Park, but as long as they have opponents willing to do so for them, we may not see it any time soon.
[The Boston Globe, BC Interruption]
