More than 93,000 tickets have been sold for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) National League Championship Series (NLCS) and World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The 40,300-seat stadium welcomed fans for the first time yesterday (Monday) as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of the NLCS. The game, which notched an attendance of 10,700, represented the league’s first game this season with attending fans.
MLB and the league-owned ticketing technology provider Tickets.com announced the latest sales figures after tickets went on sale earlier this month, first in a presale to season ticket holders of the Rangers and then to the public. The World Series games are entirely sold out, while there is still availability for NLCS games.
The NLCS and the World Series, which is set to begin on October 20, are part of MLB’s plan to welcome fans to the neutral-site environment amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Texas Rangers, which normally use the ballpark, are working with MLB to make around 11,500 tickets available for each of the maximum 14 games across both series, with 10,550 fans to be spread throughout the ballpark and 950 in suites. The figure represents about 29 per cent of Globe Life Field.
Joe Choti, Tickets.com president and chief executive, said: “This has been a baseball season unlike any other, yet still full of excitement. We are proud to provide technology solutions that help make this postseason possible for fans under challenging circumstances.”
History in the making. pic.twitter.com/ZfUy9NxNcV
— Globe Life Field (@GlobeLifeField) October 12, 2020
Tickets for the World Series were priced between $75 and $450, while passes for the ongoing NLCS range from $40 to $250.
Although the State of Texas currently allows up to 50 per cent capacity for sporting events, Globe Life Field will be around 28 per cent full for games this month.
Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, tickets in the seating bowl were sold in groups of four contiguous seats, called pods, with individuals restricted to purchasing one pod per game. Fans at last night’s game were required to wear masks, except for when they were actively eating or drinking.
Globe Life Field’s roof was also opened for the game and it is hoped that this will be the case for the remainder of the Dodgers-Braves series and the World Series.
Eden Park
Eden Park is expected to welcome more than 47,000 fans for the second Bledisloe Cup match between New Zealand and Australia on Sunday.
The first match, which took place on Sunday and hosted 31,000 fans, marked the first rugby Test match since COVID-19 postponed fixtures in March.
New Zealand has had only one new case of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and has no restrictions on mass gatherings, allowing the events to go ahead without requiring fans to wear face masks.
The third Bledisloe Cup Test will be staged at Sydney’s 83,500-capacity ANZ Stadium on October 31 and could be played in front of 40,000 fans.
Turkey
The Turkish Football Federation will allow 50 per cent of the executive suites’ capacity to welcome fans in the Turkish Süper Lig and Ziraat Turkish Cup competitions.
The move will be implemented by October 17 for all games in the league and lower divisions.
The Turkish Süper Lig’s 2020-2021 season was launched early September without spectators due to rising coronavirus cases in the country.
Image: Globe Life Field
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