The Texas Rangers Made the Right Move With Capacity Decision
The Texas Rangers are making history in the United States. They will be the first professional sports franchise to fully re-open their stadium and allow 100 percent capacity at baseball games in 2021.
The club said they hope to welcome up to 40,518 fans for the April 5th home opener at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
I'm one of the lucky few that have been able to attend a baseball game at Globe Life Field. I was lucky enough to attend Game 4 of the World Series last year. It's a great ballpark with many wonderful features that fans will love. We had a great time, though the stadium was only allowed to be 25 percent full.
Imagine being there. Opening Day in a new stadium that only about 400,000 people have seen and the first to allow all fans back in the stands. The crack of the bat. The real roar of the crowd. The team may be awful on the field, but that will be a magical game. It's almost like things are getting back to normal.
There will be some rules, though. Masks will be required unless fans are eating or drinking, and there's a '3 strikes and you're out' policy. We'll see how well that goes. The roof will remain open, according to Rangers officials, unless it starts getting warm or there's bad weather is in the area. If that happens, the Rangers are counting on their air filtration system to do its job. Also, no cash in the stadium. Take your cards.
Of course, there are those who think this is a horrible idea. They can stay home. No one is forcing you to go to a baseball game. At some point a team needed to do this. Attempt to get back to somewhat normal. And for those who're really worried, it’s the Rangers. There is a good chance that two weeks into the season, attendance will be below 30,000.
Kudos to the Texas Rangers. I hope more teams and businesses will follow in the future as we attempt to get back to normal.