(NECN: Peter Howe, Boston/Cambridge, Mass.) – Along both sides of the Charles River and around Fenway Park, Boston is gearing up for one of the biggest, boomingest weekends the hospitality industry could hope for: A combination of the Head of the Charles Regatta and the Red Sox playing the Detroit Tigers Saturday and potentially Sunday for the American League pennant.
The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates the regatta, with its 300,000 spectators and 9,000 rowers and participants from 19 nations, will pump $30 million in to the economy, and each Sox-Tigers matchup $3.2 million.
The Lenox Hotel, which is giving 50 free rooms to race organizers and elite rowers as part of its “official hotel” sponsorship of the race, was setting up a hospitality tent Friday for business partners and guests buying a special weekend package.
“You couldn’t get a better view — we’re just a couple of feet right from the river and the finish line is right here,” Lenox marketing director Scott Grigelevich said. “Burgers and chowder all day, Sunday brunch omelette station, really, we’re the hottest ticket in town.”
The one exception? The Sox-Tigers matchup either Saturday night or Saturday late afternoon, depending on the outcome of the Cardinals-Dodgers National League pennant series.
Angela Jordan, in from Chicago for the weekend with her boyfriend, came to buy a Sox Fenway tour ticket Friday afternoon but passed on trying to get a Game Six ticket. “I looked yesterday on StubHub, and they were like $300 for standing room only … I don’t want to stand. I’d rather sit in a bar! I think it would be more fun to be around the locals in a bar watching their team beat the Tigers — which I’m sure they’re going to do.”
Zoe Canaris, coxswain with the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association, a high school club, said the cost and hassle of coming up for the regatta “are worth it … I really like the venue and getting to see all the different teams. It’s amazing so many people come here to race.”
As Grigelevich observed: “It’s the perfect storm, as we’ve been saying the last couple of days. The city is jamming-busy in October, one of the busiest months in Boston. So the Red Sox are only the icing on the cake for that.”
With videographer Rich Mazzarella and video editor Lauren Kleciak
Tags: Boston, massachusetts, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Peter Howe, Cambridge, Head of the Charles Regatta , Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Boston Red Sox playoffs