Red Sox Get A Jet Blue Sponsorship
BOSTON (CBS) - The Red Sox opened the season and took over first place in team sponsorships all in the same week.
JetBlue Airways signed on again as the official airline partner of the team for a record eight years. The airline will also have the new Red Sox spring training facilities and home ballpark in Ft. Myers named JetBlue Park.
Gallery: Red Sox JetBlue Park
The carrier will continue as a sponsor of Lindos Suenos, the Red Sox youth volunteer community exchange program in the Dominican Republic and be the sponsor of the team's development program in that country. The DR is one of the international destinations served by JetBlue from Boston's Logan Airport.
Neither the Red Sox nor the airline will confirm the cost of the eight-year deal, but an educated guess puts the figure over $20 million.
JetBlue has been a partner of the baseball team for the last two seasons and 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. The airline also becomes a Fenway Park Preservation Partner and will have a key role in the team's activities next year.
JetBlue and the Red Sox are continuing to expand travel package trips including airfare, hotel rooms and game tickets for both away games and to bring baseball fans to Boston. Trips are planned to Baltimore, New York and Seattle, all served on non-stop flights from Logan Airport.
One thing that JetBlue will not be doing is to fly the team on chartered aircraft.
Despite the relationship between the Sox and the airline, that team business is expected to continue on specially equipped charters flown by Delta Air Lines. For security reasons, the team and the airline cited security reasons for not designating the carrier. Larger planes are also needed to carry all the team's equipment.
PATRIOTS & AMERICAN
In a related development on the sport's sponsorship scene, American Airlines has dropped its signing and promotion program with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
The Pats are talking with a couple of airlines and Southwest Airlines, that will officially celebrate its 40th anniversary in June, would seem to be a strong contender, flying from both Boston and Providence.
JetBlue is the airline sponsor of the New York Jets. No, Coach Rex Ryan is not their official spokesman.
In June, JetBlue will be flying over 100 flights a day to 42 non-stop destinations from Boston. The low-cost airline is expected to have about 25 percent of the outbound and inbound passenger traffic at Logan this year totaling about seven million passengers.
Bob Weiss "All Things Travel" reports can be heard weekends on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
