Five things fans should know as Texas Rangers, MLB prep Globe Life Field for playoffs
The 2020 MLB postseason is coming to Globe Life Field, featuring the World Series and with the National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series serving as opening acts.
Fans can’t attend the NLDS, a best-of-five series between top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers and their NL West rival San Diego Padres that is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
But MLB is allowing for the Globe Life Field doors to be opened to a limited number fans for live baseball beginning with the NLCS on Oct. 12-18 and the 116th Fall Classic on Oct. 20-28.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday for the general public. The games will be the first with fans at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, and the first games with fans this season during the coronavirus pandemic.
How limited? Only 11,500 will be permitted for each game in the 40,000-seat ballpark, which works out to 28.75%. Of those, 10,550 will be in the seating bowl and 950 will be for suites.
Some of the seats will go to the participating teams, but the vast majority will be made available to fans.
Getting Globe Life Field ready for the NLDS won’t be much different than when the Texas Rangers played their 30 home games this season.
But preparing for fans, on fairly short notice, is a different animal.
Fortunately for the Rangers, they have some experience in accommodating fans with more than 60 graduation ceremonies for area high schools at Globe Life Field and high school football at Globe Life Park.
The Rangers are working in conjunction with MLB on safety aspects, and some things are solely in MLB’s control.
Ticket prices
Those Row 7 seats won’t come cheaply, even though ticket prices are down from past postseasons.
A ticket for the the NLCS will range from $40 to $250, and $75 to $450 for the World Series.
Keep in mind that tickets must be purchased in “pods” of four and can’t be resold individually. But pods can be purchased for one game, whereas in past postseasons anyone wanting tickets had to purchase a strip for all seven games.
“Because of the situation we’re in here in 2020, a person can just say, ‘I’m going to buy Game 3 of the World Series,’” Rangers executive vice president Rob Matwick said. “In a best-of-seven, Game 3 is going to be played, so you know you’re going to see Game 3 of the World Series.
“If you want to hedge your bet and buy Game 7 of Game 6, you can do that too, but you don’t have to buy every game.”
All tickets will be digital.
Best seat
Any seat within 20 feet of the playing surface and the dugouts will be empty on the coronavirus virus seating chart, so the best seat won’t be any of the field-level suites or the front row behind the backstop or dugouts.
The closest a fan can sit will be Rows 7 and 8 from the backstop.
“That would be about the closest you can get around the field,” Matwick said.
That’s still really good, but it might not be quite close enough to be caught by TV cameras on a pitch-by-pitch bases.
And that leads to a critical question: Will Marlins Man still attempt to attend games.
Time will tell on that.
Concessions open
Fans are going to get hungry and thirsty. Because they are unable to bring in their own food and beverage, the Rangers will be opening concession stands for the first time.
Matwick said that he expects all stands to be open except for the field-level clubs that would bring fans withing the 20-foot safety cushion between the field and the first available seats.
All transactions, including for parking, will be cashless. Fans can purchase parking in advance, but card transactions can be accommodated.
Once inside the ballpark, fans can turn their cash into a gift card.
“We’re installing some, they call it ‘reverse ATMs,” “Someone can put cash into a machine, and get a, I believe it’s a MasterCard out that would then be a loaded card. By doing it that way, the customer can use it here or if they don’t use all the money they can use it away from here.”
Employees coming back
Many of the seasonal employees who have been out of work all season have been hired back by the Rangers and Delaware North, the food and beverage provider at Globe Life Field.
The Rangers have rehired 200 to 250 seasonal employees. Delaware North expects to have its plans finalized later this week.
Training is under way on the Rangers’ end, Matwick said.
“Because of distancing, we’ll need to utilize really the whole facility,” Matwick said. “We definitely will have our guest services staff back in full force.”
Open or closed?
One of the reasons Globe Life Field was the choice to host the NLCS and World Series is its retractable roof would ensure no problems with weather. But is a closed roof safe for fans?
The CDC says there is higher risk to contract COVID-19 at an indoor event than an outdoor event because, in part, there is less ventilation. The other part is its difficult to be socially distanced, though the Rangers and MLB believe their seating arrangement will help combat that.
As for the games, the Rangers have some data that says the baseball travels better when the roof is open. Some of that might have been Rangers pitching, too.
In 2015 and 2016, the Rogers Centre roof in Toronto was closed for the American League Division Series against the Rangers, even for day games. The ball carries better there with the roof open.
It’s MLB’s call.
“I would strongly recommend to Major League Baseball, and I think they would concur, that we try to play as many games as we can with the roof open,” Matwick said. “I do think it would be safer and better for air circulation. If we have storms, obviously, we play with the roof closed, and that’s where the masks and distancing and good hygiene practices come into play.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
