The Texas Rangers announced on Wednesday that they will allow 100% capacity at Globe Life Field for their home business in Arlington. The announcement comes a week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would revoke the state’s mask mandate and open Texas ‘100%’.
“The Rangers are encouraged that the governors’ office has given us permission to fully open Globe Life Field at the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season,” Neil Leibman, president and chief operating officer, said in a press release on Wednesday. CBS Sports. Liebman said all participants should wear a mask or face mask.
The Rangers also plan to allow their full capacity at their last two exhibition games. After the opening day, the Rangers will switch to a system where certain divisions allow ‘remote seats’, according to the team’s website. According to MLB.com, there are about 40,000 people in the stadium.
“We are not going to have the social distance seats available for the opening day because we have all committed [season ticket holders] that they can hold tickets if we allow them for the right opening day, “Joe Januszewski, executive vice president and chief executive officer for revenue and marketing, told MLB.com. We are going to respect that, so to do that, of course we will be at full capacity. ‘
Fans with day tickets who are awkwardly attending the match may exchange their tickets for a future match.
- Follow the attendance plans of each MLB team here.
The April 5 game with the Toronto Blue Jays will be the first Rangers game in their new stadium with fans. Up to 11,500 were allowed to attend each match of the 2020 National League Championship Series and World Series, both played entirely at Globe Life Field, which served as a neutral venue to prevent teams from having to travel.
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No fans may attend any regular season matches during the 2020 MLB season shortened by the pandemic. While many teams have announced plans to allow limited attendance in 2021, the Rangers are so far the only team to allow 100% stadium capacity in a single game.
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, reports KHOU-TV, a CBS subsidiary. The team has not yet made a decision on the exact number of fans that may attend.
Abbott’s announcement that Texas would drop mask mandates and restrictions on businesses was complied with harsh criticism of President Joe Biden. From Tuesday Texas ranked 47 out of all 50 countries in percentage of the population to receive at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
“I’m worried we want to act for the perfect storm. We’re setting limits, the B.1.1.7 variant is here and we’re behind on vaccinations. None of that is good news,” he said. Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of Baylor College of Medicine. “We are going to be in a much better condition in a few months. I do not understand the urgency of lifting restrictions.”
More than 45,500 people in Texas have died since the start of the pandemic, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Jonathan Vigliotti reported.