The overwhelming whiteness of concerts at Fenway Park

How many black performers have been denied the venue due to the color of their skin?

the white guilt is so real with you and what ever idiot wrote this, its pathetic. artists choose on their own to perform at the td garden because their show will have a much, much, much better chance of their show selling out. how does that have anything to do with fenway????

Making money any way possible is the what this ownership group does best ie selling fenway bricks, dirt etc. I agree those numbers look very lopsided but I think they would welcome any performer that can sell the place out. How do these numbers compare to concerts hosted at Gillette stadium & other 40k person capacity venues across the country? And not to nitpick but the majority of Dave Matthews Band is African/African American (though their fan base may not be).

that the lineup has been heavy from the start with members of the Not Quite Dead Yet Poets Society?

The vast majority of Fenway shows are old geezer bands. Bands that have been consistently touring for years and maintaining the kind of concert fan base that will come out for stadium shows year after year. And how many Black artists fit that bill?

Look at who was on the R&B charts when Pearl Jam or Billy Joel were at their peak and see how many of those artists are touring and filling 20K+ venues anywhere. If Cameo or Bell Biv DeVoe are selling out baseball stadiums in every city in America but Boston, there might be more to this guys critique. But the issue at Fenway seems more about age and longevity than race.

So unworld class. Next thing you know people will be hurling racial epitaphs at Fenway Park.

Adam can we get your input on this? It seems to me that you post these articles as click bait.

You need internet traffic on your site, a site that is often informative, and which many of us do appreciate. But sometimes you post articles like these that scream “comment here, to justify my existence to my advertisers”.

Fenway host concerts that will sell out. That’s all there is to it.

Your thoughts? Are you about to buy a ticket to a Chief Keef concert? Or is A Tribe Called Quest, a fantastic rap group, reuinting and coming soon to a stadium near me? Cause I would go.

What’s your favorite Tribe song?

It's a lot of work for somebody, but the same analysis for all the 40,000+ seat big-city concert venues would say a lot about to what degree this is a nationwide phenomenon and where Boston fits into it. There are going to be disparities and they would be interesting.

FWIW, I agree with Mr. Benhariss' sentiments.

This could very welll be the only large city in the western world where you point out 65 white artist to 1 black artist in a city with a 2:1 white:black ratio...and the white people say you’re ‘reaching’.

Then they wanna complain about ‘the media’ giving the city a bad rep. You’re all doing that on this board-and y’all are the liberal ones.

You all deserve a round of applause for your adamantv enial and obtuseness. Truly inspirational racism, truly.

Black people (and white people) all over the globe know you’re here and it’s probably why they’re not eager to perform in one of Boston’s most famous venues. This is the majority of the audience.

Anyone who’s not disgusted at the count is a racist of some degree and that’s not really debatable.

Good lord this is beyond rediculous. Bottom line is that if you can find acts (outside of Beyonce) that would command well over $100 just to get in the door then ownership would do it. They target bands like the stones and Pearl Jam because the fans are middle age, in their prime earning period of their careers, and can plop down a few hundred bucks for a two hour show no problem. And the shows will be packed night after night.

Would the writer have the same to say for venues down south that might attract primarily country bands? Racist also I guess. And what about soccer at Fenway? Did they not do a good enough job hosting friendly matches from countries with enough people of color? Get ready, that will be the next criticism

Also, I was at the bruins game the other night. WAY too many white people in the stands and on the ice. Time to ban hockey. Bunch of white guys with sticks. Racist top to bottom

I don't doubt that the person who triggered the story was sincerely interested in the issue -- and then perhaps after seeing the result became concerned.

BUT this is not a headline of importance --- and it has Nothing to do with Racism. John Henry and the Red Sox ownership & C-level of FSG, LLC*1 --- are probably some of the most liberal [some would say Lefty] major ownership in Sports. After all John Henry's owns the Boston Globe -- hardly a bastion of Trumpism.

Here's a quote from a Forbes story about FSG, LLC*1 aka the Red Sox + Fenway, etc. = John Henry & Friends

JAY Z IS LOOKING for a place to play in Boston, and pal LeBron James sells him on Fenway Park.

*2

What is more interesting than the story as someone has pointed out -- is the Knee Jerk responses to the story.

Ultimately, its all about Business and Math -- once again STEAMB [Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math, Business] is shown to be valuable compared to Ignorance, Fear, Hatred and the usual suspects.

Let's put it in perspective:

Neither Fenway Park -- the mothership of Fenway Sports Group*1 -- nor the Res Sox could survive on just the population of the City of Boston -- no matter what its racial or ethnic makeup -- its just not big enough. Look at the size of the city proper behind the rich teams [e.g. Houston --2.3 Million, NYC --8.1 Million, LA -- 4 Million, Chicago --2.7 Million ] all are far bigger in population than within Boston's city limits

What makes Fenway and the Red Sox aka Fenway Sports Group, LLC successful as a business venture*2 is that they have figured out how to capitalize on the New England Effect -- and use it as a base to become a Global Enterprise*2,3

It all about Scaling [to the nearest 10,000 from wikipedia] and your audience:
Boston proper has about 700,000 people = 1 Congressional District size
Throw in the rest of Suffolk County and the contiguous suburbs:
Cambridge -- 110,000
Newton -- 90,000
Quincy-- 90,000
Sommerville -- 80,000
Brookline -- 60,000
Revere -- 50,000
Chelsea -- 40,000
Watertown -- 40,000
Milton -- 30,000
Dedham --30,000
Winthrop -- 20,000
subtotal = 640,000 [almost the size of Boston]
Total = 1,340,000 [approx 2 Cong Districts]
The rest of the inner suburbs within or touching Rt. 128 add about another 1,000,000
and now the total you gets comfortably past 2 Million and approaching 2.5 Million -- Houston City Size
keep going out to the Boundaries of the T and you are well past 3 Million
The direct signals of the Big 4 TV Stations reach over 4.5 Million including Worcester, Manchester NH
Greater Boston MSA*4 == 4,730,000 -- about the size of the City of LA
Greater Boston CSMA*4 == 8,100,000 -- about the size of NYC
Go all the way out to encompass New England -- 14,100,000 -- a couple of Millions bigger than Pennsylvania and a couple of Millions short of NY State
Throw in the Canadian Maritimes if you want -- overall the core of Red Sox Nation might approach 20 Million -- NESN cable coverage

That's who FSG markets the Red Sox and through them Fenway as a venue for Hockey, Ice Racing and Concerts -- and Yes it is an overwhelmingly Euro-based population

No surprise and no guilt either -- that's just what it is

Now let everybody go back to doing something hopefully productive!

*1 Fenway Sports Group from the Wikipedia Article:

Divisions:
Fenway Sports Management
Fenway Sports Group Real Estate

Subsidiaries
Boston Red Sox
Liverpool F.C.
Fenway Park
Anfield
Roush Fenway Racing (50%)
Pawtucket Red Sox (10%)
Salem Red Sox
Fenway Sports Management --- the lebron James Connection
New England Sports Network (80%)
Fenway Theater
Fenway Music Company

*2

Red Sox Nation Goes Global
Kurt Badenhausen
Forbes Staff
I cover sports business with rare dips into b-schools, local economies
This story appears in the April 14, 2014 issue of Forbes.

JAY Z IS LOOKING for a place to play in Boston, and pal LeBron James sells him on Fenway Park. British soccer team Liverpool is looking for a jersey sponsor--at the last minute Boston-based New Balance sweeps past rivals to do the deal. Best Buy BBY -1.3% decides to stop sponsoring the Boston Red Sox--it moves that money to Nascar, backing Roush Fenway Racing instead.

None of this is happenstance, and none of this is what you'd expect from a company with its roots in one of the most tradition-laden franchises in the most tradition-laden sport. As corporations go, the Boston Red Sox are no more--they are but a cog (with Liverpool and the Nascar team as the other cornerstone assets) in the Fenway Sports Group, the most sophisticated, synergistic player in the coming age of international sports conglomerates.

FSG is attempting to marry the clubby world of team ownership and the slick field of sports management. A sports conglomerate that's integrated vertically, horizontally--and globally--Fenway Sports Management handles all sponsorships for its three teams, as well as players and squads it doesn't own, including James, Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, Boston College, MLB Advanced Media and the PGA's Deutsche Bank Championship. Sponsors face a bewildering array of possibilities across teams, events and athletes. "We wake up every day and think about how to increase revenues because we think that is the best way to fuel a winning product," says co-owner Tom Werner, who originally made his bones in Hollywood, producing the likes of The Cosby Show and Roseanne.....

*3 Considered by many to be one of the top Sports-related businesses

An an April 2014 article in Forbes, senior editor Kurt Badenhausen called FSG "the most sophisticated, synergistic player in the coming age of international sports conglomerates"

*4 Greater Boston from Wiki

Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, and the most populous city in New England, as well as its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern arc of the US northeast megalopolis and as such, Greater Boston can be described as either a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), or as a broader combined statistical area (CSA). The MSA consists of most of the eastern third of Massachusetts, excluding the South Coast region and Cape Cod; while the CSA additionally includes the municipalities of Manchester (the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire), Providence (the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island), Worcester, Massachusetts (the second largest city in New England), as well as the South Coast region and Cape Cod in Massachusetts. While the small footprint of the city of Boston itself only contains an estimated 685,094, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas.

and

Greater Boston is ranked tenth in population among US metropolitan statistical areas, home to 4,732,161 people as of the 2014 US Census estimate, and sixth among combined statistical areas, with a population of 8,099,575.

There should not be any concerts at Fenway Park. Have concerts at Franklin Park or White Stadium.

What would Elvis say ?

Lets keep it that way ! Just sayin