California’s MLB teams will officially be able to have fans in attendance this season, and can expect fans as soon as Opening Day.
Governor Gavin Newsom officially made the announcement Friday to allow limited attendance for outdoor activities starting April 1, after a week of hinting at the possibility. For the five California teams, all will be allowed a maximum capacity of 100 fans in cities in the purple tier, and 20% capacity for cities in the red tier. California’s tiers identify purple as the most restrictive tier, while red is one better than that. As it currently stands, the cities in question are within the purple and red tiers, with only the San Francisco Giants in the red. This means they would be able to have the highest number of fan attendance at 20% capacity at this point in time.
Ticket sales for the purple tier will be limited to regional sales, while other tiers will allow for statewide sales. As far as what fans can expect once they get inside the stadium, cities in the purple tier will not be able to buy concessions like food or drinks. For other tiers, fans will be able to purchase in-seat concessions.
Fans can also expect similar arrangements to what is currently happening throughout spring training stadiums, which include socially-distanced, pod seating.
The Giants, Padres, A’s, Dodgers, and Angels now join at least ten other clubs around Major League Baseball that have officially received approval to allow a limited number of fans. However, there is also a large number of teams that are hopeful to allow fans, and we could continue to see more announcements in the coming weeks as we reach closer to the start of the regular season. California is actually one of the more restricted states even after the latest adjustments, as the average capacity currently approved for other teams is about 25%, with the Milwaukee Brewers even confirmed to allow 35% capacity.
Although all of this is still subject to ever-changing health protocols, fans have to be excited to reach some sort of normalcy ahead of a new season.
