Fenway South is the

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

base of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

. The purpose-built training and player development complex is used year-round by the Red Sox and its minor league

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s—

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawt ...

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West En ...

, and

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...

—and includes an 11,000-seat stadium and an additional six baseball fields together with training and medical facilities. As the spring training home of Red Sox, it replaced nearby

City of Palms Park City of Palms Park is a baseball stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. It served as the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) from its opening in 1993 to 2011. It has hosted college baseball games for Florida SouthWe ...

. The stadium within Fenway South is called

JetBlue Park JetBlue Park (also styled as jetBlue Park) is a baseball park in Fort Myers, Florida, part of the Fenway South training and development facility. Opened in March 2012, it is primarily the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox, replacing e ...

, through sponsorship by

JetBlue Airways JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York ...

, which has maintained major operations at Boston's

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

since 2004. The complex was officially opened by the Lee County

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

and the Red Sox on February 25, 2012.

Facilities

There are six baseball training fields and two

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

fields in the complex, available year-round by the Red Sox and their

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s. Baseball field No. 1 has the same field dimensions as

and

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

. Fields 1, 2, and 4 are set in the same direction as JetBlue Park, with 3, 4, 5, and 6 sharing a backstop facility. The complex is served via a private road from the local fire department station (Lee County #64).

The move to Fenway South

The Red Sox's lease on

with Fort Myers ran through 2019, however team ownership exercised an early out in the contract that allowed them to leave following the 2009

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

season. Chief operating officer Mike Dee met with

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

officials on April 25, 2008 to discuss the possibility of the Red Sox moving to Sarasota's

Ed Smith Stadium Ed Smith Stadium is a baseball field located in Sarasota, Florida. Since 2010, it has been the spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles. History Ed Smith Stadium was built in 1989 to replace Payne Park as a Spring Training and Minor League ...

once its current spring inhabitants, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, move to their new spring home in

Goodyear, Arizona Goodyear (O'odham language, O'odham: ''Valin Thak'') is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census had a population o ...

. John Yarborough, director of Lee County Parks and Recreation, met with Jeff Mudgett, a Fort Myers

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who was volunteering his time to brainstorm ideas on what could be done to keep the Red Sox in Fort Myers. "I'd like to have a project by 2012," Yarborough said after the meeting. On October 28, 2008, the Lee County commission voted 3–1 to approve an agreement with the Boston Red Sox to build a new spring-training facility for the team in south Lee County. On November 1, 2008, the Red Sox signed an agreement with Lee County that would keep their spring training home in the Fort Myers area for 30 more years. Wednesday, April 30, 2009, the Lee County commissioners selected the Watermen-Pinnacle site on Daniels Parkway, a little more than a mile east of

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

, as the site for the new facility, with a mini-Fenway Park that would open for Spring 2012. On February 25, 2010, the Boston Red Sox officially released the proposed architectural plans for the new training facility. It was planned as an exact copy of the playing-field dimensions of Fenway Park, including a

Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters. Overview The wall was part ...

, offering a mix of the old Fenway style and a Floridian and modern style. On March 29, 2011, it was announced that the new stadium would be named JetBlue Park.

References

External links

Description at RedSox.com

Red Sox Reach Deal For New Spring Training Facility in Ft. Myers

Design of new Red Sox spring training facility slowly taking shape
{{Coord, 26, 32, 53, N, 81, 45, 48, W, type:landmark, display=inline,title Sports venues in Florida Minor league baseball venues Boston Red Sox spring training venues Spring training ballparks Sports venues in Fort Myers, Florida Buildings and structures in Fort Myers, Florida 2012 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 2012 Sports complexes in Florida Fenway Sports Group