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On Wednesday, the Texas Rangers announced they will allocate 100% capacity to Globe Life Field for their home opener in Arlington. The announcement comes a week after Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he was rescinding the state’s mask mandate and opening Texas “100%.”
“The Rangers are encouraged that the governor’s office has given us permission to fully open Globe Life Field at the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season,” the president of business operations and general manager said on Wednesday. of operations Neil Leibman in a press release. at CBS Sports. Liebman said all participants will be required to wear a mask or face mask.
The Rangers also plan to allow full capacity in their last two exhibition games. After opening day, the Rangers will switch to a system where some sections will allow “remote seats,” according to the team’s website. The stadium can accommodate around 40,000 people, according to MLB.com.
“We are not going to have remote headquarters available for opening day because we are committed to everyone [season ticket holders] that they could hold 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 will honor that, so for this do, obviously we would be at full capacity. “
Fans with opening tickets who are not comfortable attending the match will be allowed to exchange their tickets for an upcoming match.
- Follow each MLB team’s attendance plans here.
The April 5 game with the Toronto Blue Jays will mark the Rangers’ first game at their new stadium with fans. Up to 11,500 had been allowed to attend each game of the National League Championship Series and the 2020 World Series, both played entirely at Globe Life Field, which served as a neutral site to prevent teams from having to travel.
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No fan has been allowed to attend regular season games during the pandemic-cut short 2020 MLB season. While many teams have announced plans to allow limited participation in 2021, the Rangers are so far the only team to allow 100% stadium capacity, even in a single game.
The Houston Astros announced Wednesday that they will allow a limited number of fans to attend home games at Minute Maid Park this season, CBS affiliate KHOU-TV reported. The team has yet to make a decision on the exact number of fans who will be allowed to attend.
Abbott’s announcement that Texas would drop mask warrants and business restrictions has been honored severe criticism by President Joe Biden. From Tuesday on, Texas ranked 47 out of 50 states as a percentage of the population receiving at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
“I’m afraid we’re in the perfect storm. We’re lifting the restrictions, variant B.1.1.7 is here for the most part, and we’re behind on vaccinations. None of this is good news,” said Dr Peter Hotez, the dean of Baylor College of Medicine. “We will be in much better shape in a few months. I don’t quite understand the urgency of lifting the 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 contributed reporting.
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