Mariners given approval for 9,000 fans to return to T-Mobile Park
Baseball will be back at T-Mobile Park this spring — and so will Mariners fans.
The club announced Thursday afternoon it has received approval from Washington state and King County officials to host up to 9,000 fans at the ballpark, beginning Opening Day.
The Mariners open their season April 1 against the Giants.
“We have been working closely with state and local officials the past several months to get ready for this day,” Mariners chairman John Stanton said in a release. “The health and safety of our fans, players and employees is our number one consideration. With the guidance of experts and best practices for health and safety, we are thrilled to be able to welcome fans back to T-Mobile Park for the first time since 2019.”
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday the state will move into Phase 3 of its COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan on March 22, allowing outdoor professional sports to bring fans back at 25% capacity.
The ballpark seats nearly 48,000 fans at full capacity.
Tickets to the first 11 games of Seattle’s season — which include three-game series against the Giants and White Sox during the opening homestand from April 1-6, and a three-game series against the Astros and two-game series against the defending World Series champion Dodgers during the second homestand from April 16-20 — will be available initially.
Season ticket holders will have priority to reserve seats before sales open to single-game buyers, the release says.
Mariners Mail subscribers will have pre-sale access March 24, and remaining single-game tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on March 25.
Tickets will be available on the team’s website.
“Tickets will be available in small, socially distanced pods of 1-6 fans,” the release says. “Pods must be members of the same household.
“No printed tickets will be available. All tickets will be digital in order to reduce contact and opportunities for cross contamination between fans and staff.
“Tickets for future games will be made available as local regulations about capacity for outdoor venues continue to evolve.”
Several new health and safety measures have been put in place at T-Mobile Park to ensure a safe return for fans, including digital ticketing, security screening — no bags or outside food will be allowed until further notice, the release says — cashless transactions, updated menu offerings focused on individually packaged items and enhanced cleaning protocols.
All fans in attendance age 2 and older, as well as ballpark staff, will also be required to wear masks at all times unless actively eating or drinking, the release says.
Prior to Inslee’s announcement, Mariners manager Scott Servais addressed the possibility of having fans return to to the ballpark pregame Thursday.
“It would mean a lot to our players and myself,” he said. “We desperately missed it last year.”
Without fans allowed in the ballpark last summer due to the pandemic, the Mariners lined the seats at T-Mobile Park with nearly 15,000 cardboard cutouts, and raised $70,000 for COVID-19 relief efforts through their “Seat Fleet” program.
Servais said having fans in the stands “does mean the world to us — just the excitement they bring.”
“There’s nothing like being in the ballpark, feeling you’re part of it,” he said. “You get a feel for the nuances of the game and like the personalities of the players and the things you just don’t pick up on TV.”
MINOR DETAILS
Cheney Stadium in Tacoma is also getting set to welcome fans back this spring for both minor league baseball and soccer.
“We have been working with the state on a plan to safely host fans this season at Cheney Stadium and are encouraged by today’s announcement by Gov. Inslee,” the Rainiers wrote in a release Thursday.
“This move into (Phase 3) will allow fans at 25 percent capacity for OL Reign’s home opener on April 16, and we will continue to work with the Governor’s office and other leaders as we move closer to welcoming Tacoma Rainiers fans back to Cheney Stadium.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 4:04 PM.
