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Article: WHERE SPRING TRAINING COUNTS FANS' ENTHUSIASM TRANSLATES INTO PROFITS FOR RED SOX OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- March 10, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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FORT MYERS, Fla. - The special spring training socks are sold
out. So are the Red Sox waste baskets with the World Series logos. As
for the pastel purple Boston hats with the flamingos on the front,
fans had better act fast: Those are going, too.
Here in Florida, fans pack the team's merchandise store at City of
Palms Park visitors don't walk in, they push and they gather heaps
of T-shirts, jackets, and hats in their arms, lest they be taken by
someone else. The average fan who walks in here spends $200, the
team's merchandising manager said. Some spend $1,000 or $1,500.
"We tried to set a limit, but then we spent $325, so that has gone
right out the window," said Nancy Widell, who ...