SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Texas Rangers on Wednesday announced their plans for allowing fans into Globe Life Field for the 2021 season.

For their home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 5 -- as well as two exhibitions at the end of Spring Training against Milwaukee on March 29-30 -- Globe Life Field will be open for up to 100 percent capacity. These will be the first games the Rangers will play at their new home park with fans in attendance.

After the home opener, the stadium will be open at a slightly reduced capacity, making certain sections of Globe Life Field available for “distanced seating” where more space will be allowed between occupied seats in those sections through the months of April and May.

• Health and safety guidelines

Rangers EVP and chief revenue and marketing officer Joe Januszewski said “several hundred seats and several sections” have been allocated to be sold in pods of two or four for those who do not feel comfortable in full capacity sections. 

“We're not going to have the social distance seats available for Opening Day because we made a commitment to everybody [season ticket holders] that they could hold tickets if we would allow them for the proper Opening Day,” Januszewski said. “We're going to honor that, so in order to do that, obviously we would be at a full capacity.”

Those who do not feel comfortable doing so can exchange their Opening Day tickets for future credit. 

The announcement comes a week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott opened the entire state and businesses fully and ended the mask mandate that had been in place since early July. Neil Leibman, the Rangers' president of business operations, said the organization was waiting for direction from the governor’s office before making any plans for the 2021 season.

With the decline of COVID-related hospitalizations and case numbers, the Rangers saw it as a comfortable environment to move forward with plans for Opening Day.

“We are pleased to play a part in people reasonably and responsibly coming back together,” Leibman said. “We expect it to be a very special Opening Day and I know I for one am extremely excited to have fans see our new stadium and watch some Texas Rangers baseball. It's gonna require the cooperation of our guests and we've seen good cooperation in the past.

“We look forward to the start of the season and bringing back together our fans and America's favorite pastime.”  

Health and safety protocols will continue to be enforced at Globe Life Field in 2021, including:

• Masks will be required for all fans except when actively eating or drinking at their ticketed seats. That includes all concourse areas and when entering Globe Life Field.

• Hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout the ballpark.

• Globe Life Field will again be cashless, as it was for 2020 events. All tickets will be digital and only credit cards will be accepted at concession stands and retail locations.

• Safe distancing will be enforced in concession lines and retail locations.

• No bags will be permitted except for those that are carried for medical reasons or manufactured diaper bags that accompany infants and young children.

• The Rangers are working with Major League Baseball to finalize health and safety protocols as it pertains to the seating bowl and the playing field at Globe Life Field.

Globe Life Field was set to open for the 2020 season, but the ballpark’s debut was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rangers have yet to play a game at their new home with fans in attendance, but it has previously been open at a limited capacity for the 2020 National League Championship Series and World Series, among other non-baseball events.

Because of the success of those events, the organization is confident in its ability to reopen fully for the 2021 season. But the Rangers are still emphasizing a “voluntary compliance” of all fans in attendance. As an additional safety measure, no tailgating will be allowed through the first two months of the season.

“The good news is the numbers are starting to trend down,” said executive vice president of business operations Rob Matwick. “Are we there yet? No, and we can't drop our vigilance. That's where the responsibility for our guests comes into play. We need their cooperation to wear their masks and to distance when they're entering the building.” 

The Rangers also have a unique variable that most other clubs will not encounter: the retractable roof on Globe Life Field. Matwick said there is a constant flow of outside air whether the roof is open or closed, making it a safer environment and mitigating the risk for an airborne disease like the coronavirus. 

The new stadium is one of the organization’s biggest assets in the fan policy, but Matwick emphasized the need for fan compliance with the COVID-19 policies throughout the season. 

“We've talked to all of our fellow teams in Major League Baseball that are going forward with fans this year, which is just about everybody, and I think most are following a three-strike policy, if you will,” Matwick said. “We hope that things don't escalate to that point, but we'd like to give people the benefit of the doubt.” 

Through the Rangers Relievers Program, the club is providing free tickets to frontline workers in the DFW area. The games include the two exhibition games against Milwaukee on March 29-30, and all home games in April in designated sections.

Season ticket holders will have full access to their tickets, beginning with the March 29 exhibition games. Ticket representatives will be in contact with ticket holders in the coming days. Single-game tickets for all March and April games outside of the home opener will go on sale on Monday, March 22, at 10 a.m. CT. Those can be purchased at texasrangers.com or by calling 972RANGERS.