ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The largest MLB crowd since the pandemic turned out for the Texas Rangers’ home opener Monday.
Rangers fans didn’t have much to cheer about as their team lost 6-2, other than finally getting to see their team play a regular-season game in the retractable-roof stadium that opened last year.
The Rangers announced a sellout crowd of 38,283 for their 50th home opener in Texas, the second in $1.2 billion Globe Life Field that has a listed capacity of 40,518. The announced attendance doesn’t include complimentary tickets.
The Rangers required all fans to wear masks unless “actively eating or drinking” and follow social distancing guidelines while waiting at concessions stands.
The Rangers played all 30 home games in the stadium’s debut season without fans last summer. Major League Baseball allowed about 28% capacity for the National League Championship Series and World Series games that were played there exclusively last October, with the largest crowd being 11,472.
The Rangers said last month they would allow full capacity in the stadium after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that allowed business in the state to operate at 100% capacity.
“It felt like a real game. It felt like back to the old days when we had full capacity,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “Was hoping we’d see how loud our stadium got if we gave them something to cheer about. Unfortunately we didn’t do that.”