Texas Rangers announced on Wednesday that it will allow 100% capacity at the Globe Life Field for its home debut in Arlington. The announcement came a week after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he was terminating the state’s mask mandate and opening Texas “100%”.
“The Rangers are excited that the Governor’s Office has given us permission to fully open the Globe Life Field at the beginning of the 2021 Major League Baseball season,” said COO and Business Operations President Neil Leibman in a press release Wednesday , second for CBS Sports. Liebman said that all participants will be required to wear a mask or facial cover.
The Rangers also plan to allow full capacity in their final two exhibition games. After the opening day, the Rangers will switch to a system where certain sections will allow “distant seats”, according to the team’s website. The stadium seats approximately 40,000 people, according to MLB.com.
“We are not going to have the distance social seats available for the Opening Day because we are committed to everyone [season ticket holders] that they could retain tickets if we allow them to attend the proper Opening Day, “Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Joe Januszewski told MLB.com.” We will honor that, so to do that, we would obviously be at full capacity. “
Fans with tickets for the opening day who do not feel comfortable watching the game will be able to exchange their tickets for a future game.
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The April 5 clash with the Toronto Blue Jays will mark Rangers’ first game in their new stadium with fans. Up to 11,500 were allowed to watch each game in the 2020 National League Championship Series and World Series, both played entirely at the Globe Life Field, which served as a neutral venue to prevent teams from having to travel.
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No fans were allowed to watch regular season games during the 2020 MLB season shortened to the pandemic. Although many teams have announced plans to allow limited participation in 2021, the Rangers are, so far, the only team to allow 100% of the stadium’s capacity in a single game.
Houston Astros announced on Wednesday that it will allow a limited number of fans to attend home games at Minute Maid Park this season, reported CHO affiliate KHOU-TV. The team has yet to comment on the exact number of fans who will be able to attend.
Abbott’s announcement that Texas would stop wearing masks and business restrictions was met with castigation President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, Classified Texas 47 of all 50 states as a percentage of the population that will receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
“I am concerned about the perfect storm. We are lifting restrictions, variant B.1.1.7 is here in style and we are behind on vaccinations. None of this is good news,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine. “We will be in a much better shape in a few months from now. I don’t quite understand the urgency of lifting the restrictions.”
More than 45,500 people have died in Texas since the pandemic began, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Jonathan Vigliotti contributed reporting.