The Roman Anthony effect is real.
With the same kind of lift the Red Sox are waiting for on the field, demand at the box office spiked after the team announced the 21-year-old top prospect’s call-up late Monday afternoon.
Jim Holzman, owner of Ace Ticket, sold 500 tickets between 4 and 6 o’clock for Anthony’s debut Monday night against the Rays.
“That generally happens when a team clinches the playoffs or makes it to the next round,” said Holzman, who indicated that before the call-up, tickets he had not already given away to charity because he knew he would be stuck with them were selling for half price. “It’s not normal. In my 40 years of doing this, the last time I saw anything resembling this was November of 2015 after David Ortiz announced his retirement, and the Red Sox said they were going to honor him in the last game of the 2016 season.”
The bounce continued into this homestand, with post-announcement sales doubling for Tuesday night’s game and tripling for Wednesday night, Holzman said.
The Yankees are in town this weekend, and with the Sox taking two of three in the Bronx last weekend, Holzman said there’s “renewed interest” in those tickets.
NESN said Tuesday it set a record on its streaming platform. NESN 360 had the highest unique audience for any live event during Monday’s Red Sox broadcast, with the total audience on the platform 18 percent higher than the previous record, which was set on Opening Day this season. NESN also said more than 80 percent of NESN 360 subscribers tuned in at some point to see Anthony’s first game.
Bobby D’Angelo, an owner of Twins Enterprise that runs the Red Sox Team Store outside Fenway Park, hopes his business will be able to jump on the Anthony bandwagon.
He’s placed a large order to have more Anthony jerseys and T-shirts for sale, hopefully in time for the Yankees series.
D’Angelo has to be cautious about placing too big of an order too soon, given the chance that despite the considerable hype surrounding Anthony, he may need more seasoning later in the year.
Another factor to consider is Anthony’s current uniform number, 48.
“That doesn’t sound like Yaz or Ted Williams to me, that’s a rough number,” said D’Angelo. “But believe me, we have got orders in for Anthony. We want him.”
Eventually, D’Angelo expects Anthony to rival fellow outfielder and current Red Sox merchandise leader “by a mile,” Jarren Duran.
“I can tell you right now he and Duran will be 1 and 2 — all he’s got to do is be a .250 hitter,” said D’Angelo. “They’re going to love this guy.”
Holzman ascribed some powerful comps when it comes to the hopes and dreams surrounding Anthony.
“How long have we been hearing about him? It’s like Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa,” said Holzman. “He’s got the name, he’s got the looks, he’s got the attitude, everything you read about him, he’s the real deal, right? I don’t think since Mookie [Betts] has there been this kind of excitement.”
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.
