On Thursday afternoon, the city of Chicago announced new coronavirus guidelines that would allow for capacity at outdoor sporting events to reach up to 25%. This means an increase in fans can occur at Chicago home baseball games, with the White Sox already saying they will bump their capacity percentage from 20% to 22% to start the season.
This 2% difference now means Guaranteed Rate Field will welcome 8,935 fans, which is an 812 person increase from the guidelines that were set back on March 8th. A team spokesperson said the Sox won’t go to a full 25% just yet in order to ensure the proper enforcement of social distancing protocols throughout the stadium.
Some of the safety measures fans traveling to the park can expect include:
- Physically distanced seating assigned by pods of one to six
- Mobile ticketing for contactless entry and contact tracing
- Mandatory masks worn properly by everyone ages two and up
- Maintaining physical distancing around and throughout the ballpark property
- Numerous hand sanitizer stations for fans
- Limited menu of individually packaged food items will be available
- No bags will be allowed (except for small clutch purses, medical bags or diaper bags when infant is present)
- Enhanced cleaning protocols, including frequent disinfecting using hospital-grade supplies on high-touch areas
It’s important to note the team said capacity limits will be reviewed regularly based on approved city and state health and safety directives prior to new homestand game tickets being released. This means we may see the team increase attendance up to 25% or eventually higher once everyone deems it safe to do so.
As for ticket distribution, it seems likely the team will continue to offer priority sales access to season ticket holders based on tenure and ticket package type. A number of single game tickets have already reached third party sites like StubHub, though be expected to dish out a pretty penny due to high demand and limited quantity. If you would rather wait it out and be updated about ticket availability from the team itself, click here to sign up for official alerts.
The White Sox are scheduled to open things up at Guaranteed Rate Field with a seven-game, eight-day homestand next month, starting with the home opener on April 8th vs. Kansas City. First pitch is currently set for 3:10 pm.
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Featured Photo: Chris Tejeda (@FotoGenocide_)/Twitter
