Happy Hour ban in Boston includes Fenway patrons

• Citing 1984 Boston rule banning Happy Hour:

"City regulators said they plan to order the Boston Red Sox to stop offering an open bar as part of $1,000-and-up packages for some of Fenway Park’s most coveted seats.

• Daniel F. Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, said the team will be told to “cease and desist’’ the practice but apparently will not face further sanctions, unlike other bars and restaurants that have temporarily lost their licenses for similar infractions of the state’s 25-year ban on happy hours and open bars....

Ron Bumgarner, Red Sox vice president for ticketing, said the team will do whatever is necessary to comply with the law, even if it means dropping the unlimited access to beer, wine, and cocktails and refunding money to those who already purchased the ticket packages.

• “The last thing we want to do is anything that runs in the face of Massachusetts law,’’ he said, adding the ban on open bars was “a surprise’’ to team officials.

State alcohol commission officials declined to comment but referred to the so-called happy hours regulations and disciplinary actions taken against four Boston bars in 2003 for selling tickets to New Year’s Eve parties that included open bars."

• ...from Boston Globe article, "City Regulators Say Red Sox Must End Open Bar," by Jack Sullivan, 8/8/09

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