Texas Rangers to host largest crowd for U.S. sporting event during COVID-19 pandemic

No sporting event in the United States has hosted as many fans during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Texas Rangers are expecting Monday for their home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rangers made every seat at Globe Life Field available for all 81 home games this season after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ended the statewide mask mandate last month and allowed businesses to operate at 100% capacity.

That total is 40,158 at Globe Life Field, and the Rangers are expecting a sellout. The Dallas Cowboys saw 31,700 fans at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 8 for a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Rangers remain confident that their $1.2-billion ballpark won’t become the epicenter of a super-spreader event that many fear, including President Joe Biden. The Rangers’ belief is based on the guidelines they are requiring fans to follow as well as what the local data is showing, that the seven-day moving average of COVID cases is falling and that the number of vaccinations is rising.

At the same time, the Rangers are relying on fan cooperation to adhere to protocols, as they did during previous Globe Life Field events with limited capacity like the World Series and National Finals Rodeo.

“In spite of the challenges that the pandemic presents, there is a safe way and a responsible way to conduct events,” executive vice president Rob Matwick said last week. “We look forward to doing that, but we also understand that it takes everybody’s cooperation to be successful.”

COVID protocols

Fans will be required to wear masks inside the ballpark except when eating and drinking in their seats. They will be asked to practice social distancing while away from their seats, frequently wash their hands and to make use of dozens of hand-sanitizing stations throughout the ballpark.

All transactions in parking lots and at concession stands and team stores will be cashless to limit contact between patrons and merchants.

Plexiglass has been installed behind both dugouts and bullpens, at the recommendation of Major League Baseball, to help protect players from possible exposure to the virus.

Anyone with tickets who shows any symptoms ahead of first pitch is asked to stay home. “We need fans to cooperate and work with us to make sure that we don’t infect others,” Matwick said. “That’s the last thing we would want to happen here.”

Critics, though, are loudly predicting that will happen, chief among them the commander in chief. Biden told ESPN on Wednesday that the Rangers are making “a mistake” in opening to full capacity and that he thinks “it’s not responsible.”

Biden said that the Rangers should listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci and the scientists leading the response to the pandemic. Matwick, though, said the Rangers have been in contact with experts in the area for help with the seating manifest and in determining which protocols to put in place.

“The only health and safety adjustment we’re making on Opening Day will be a reduction of social distancing in the seating bowl,” Matwick said.

Player safety

Manager Chris Woodward said there are some concerns for the health of players and coaches while playing in front of a capacity crowd, but his expectation is the organization will hold fans accountable.

Limited capacity was allowed for games during spring training in Arizona, with no crowd exceeding 2,500, and Globe Life Field was less than one-third full for the two exhibition games last week against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Kansas City Royals allowed just more than 9,000 fans to attend Kauffman Stadium for each of the three games during the season-opening series.

Playing in front of fans, rather than playing with piped-in crowd noise and cardboard cutouts in seats as was the case during the shortened 2020 season in which fans were banned, is a welcomed change.

“We haven’t had a chance to play in front of our fans,” Woodward said. “As far as the health of the fans, we’ve got to hold them to the same standards we do internally. We’re going to continue to do our part as an organization to keep ourselves safe. We hope the fans do the same.”

Rangers field personnel is restricted in what they can do off the field, such as no dining out, and they must wear masks at the ballpark except when on the field. They continue to be tested daily for COVID-19.

Opening festivities

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Parking lots will open at 11:30 a.m., and gates to the ballpark will open at noon. The weather forecast is calling for a temperature of 79 degrees with a minimal chance for rain, so the retractable roof will be open.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” will be performed by local saxophonist Paul Rogers, Michael Borts will sing “O Canada,” and Joel Lagrone will sing “Texas, Our Texas.”

Gov. Greg Abbott will be joined by a group of front-line workers for the ceremonial first pitch.

The Rangers will observe moments of silence to remember Charley Pride, the country music legend and former minority owner of the Rangers who died in December, and Dr. Bobby Brown, the former New York Yankees star turned local cardiologist and the Rangers president in 1974, who died last month.

And fans will be in attendance at Globe Life Field for a Rangers home game for the first time. A limited number of fans were allowed inside for the NLCS and World Series in October.

The Rangers continue to believe they can pull off hosting a true capacity crowd without having Opening Day, or any other game, become superspreader events.

“As excited as we are to welcome fans back to the ballpark, our organization also understands that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and that this is not the time to back away from the protocols we’ve had in place for the past 12 months,” Matwick said. “These protocols have allowed us to safely welcome guests into this building and into Globe Life Park.”