According to an extensive piece appearing in today's Boston Globe (in conjunction with Northeastern University's Initiative for Investigative Reporting), the Red Sox have reaped a windfall of approximately $45 million from lease agreements made in 2003 with the City of Boston. The team's use of Yawkey Way and air rights over the Green Monster were given to the Red Sox for relatively small yearly lease fees because the city had deemed the areas "urban blight".Some argue that if a more reasonable designation had been given to the two areas—one which calculated the revenue the Sox could generate—the lease payments would have been much higher. New BRA director Peter Meade is seeking new lease terms for the re-up in 2013, and a possible re-negotiation of the last two years of the existing lease agreement.
What's most exasperating from our point of view is that the lease agreements were touted as necessary to avoid building a new stadium—something the NOG never wanted to shell out for anyway. Now, $45 million later, they enjoy huge profits while we all stare, starry-eyed at a 100-year old 'gem' of a ballpark. Nice work, Mayor Menino!