The Texas Rangers announced on Wednesday that they will allow 100% capacity at Globe Life Field for their home opener in Arlington. The announcement comes a week after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he would revoke the state’s mask mandate and open Texas “100%.”
“The Rangers are encouraged that the Governor’s Office has authorized us to fully open Globe Life Field at the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season,” said Neil Leibman, President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer. at CBS Sports. Liebman said everyone in attendance should wear a mask or face cover.
The Rangers also plan to allow their full capacity in their last two exhibition games. After opening day, the Rangers will switch to a system where certain sections allow for “remote seating,” according to the team’s website. According to MLB.com, the stadium can seat approximately 40,000 people.
“We will not have the remote social seats available for opening day as we have committed to everyone [season ticket holders] that they could keep tickets if we allowed them for the appropriate opening day, “Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Joe Januszewski told MLB.com.” We’re going to honor that, so to do that, obviously we’d be at full capacity. “
Fans with opening day tickets who do not feel comfortable attending the match may exchange their tickets for a subsequent match.
- Follow each MLB team’s attendance plans here.
The April 5 game with the Toronto Blue Jays marks the first Rangers game at their new stadium with fans. Up to 11,500 had been allowed to attend every game of the 2020 National League Championship Series and World Series, both of which were played entirely at Globe Life Field, which served as a neutral ground to prevent teams from having to travel.
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Fans were not allowed to attend regular season games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB season. While many teams have announced plans to allow a limited turnout in 2021, the Rangers are the only team so far to have 100% stadium capacity at even a match.
The Houston Astros announced on Wednesday that they will allow a limited number of fans to attend home games at Minute Maid Park this season, CBS partner KHOU-TV reports. The team has not yet made a decision on the exact number of fans allowed to attend.
Abbott’s announcement that Texas would remove mask mandates and restrictions on companies was answered harsh criticism from President Joe Biden. From Tuesday Texas ranked 47 of 50 states in percentage of the population to receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
“I’m afraid we’re heading for the perfect storm. We’re lifting the restrictions, the B.1.1.7 variant is widespread here, and we’re lagging behind in terms of vaccinations. None of that is good news,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, the Dean of Baylor College of Medicine. “In a few months we will be much better off. I don’t quite understand the urgency to lift restrictions.”
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, more than 45,500 people in Texas have died since the start of the pandemic.
Jonathan Vigliotti contributed to the reporting.