Giants, A’s can host fans in April
Attendance will be capped at 20% capacity
State officials announced Friday they will allow some spectators to attend events at outdoor stadiums and ballparks — including Oracle Park for the Giants and the Oakland Coliseum for the A’s — starting April 1.
The A’s open their season at home that night against Houston. The Giants play their home opener April 9 against Colorado.
Friday’s announcement by the California Department of Public Health specifies that the reopenings will include “very reduced capacity, mandatory masking and other public health precautions.” State guidelines will allow 20% capacity when a county is in the red tier, for example, and 33% when it reaches the orange tier.
Alameda County sits in the more restrictive purple tier — where capacity will be capped at only 100 people, according to the state — but is expected to move into the red tier soon. San Francisco moved from the purple tier to the red tier this week.
“It’ll mean so much for us to have fans in the stands,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s much more fun and much more inspiring when our fans are rooting us on, engaged, hanging on every pitch. It’s really part of the sport that was missing last year . ...
“In some ways, we feel like the game is not fully the game without our fans around. It kind of feels like we’re in a partnership with them, and it seems something is missing with them not in the stands.”
The A’s said 20% capacity at the Coliseum will translate to 11,020 people in pods of two and four, plus sixperson suites. Seats will be distanced across three decks of the west side of the stadium, plus the bleacher and Treehouse Plaza seating areas.
State officials will restrict ticket sales to California residents in the red, orange and yellow tiers, and “regional visitors” in the purple tier. Other protocols at A’s games include no tailgating, parking opening 90 minutes before the first pitch and the gates opening one hour in advance.
Club president Dave Kaval expects Alameda County to
move into “at least” the red tier by Opening Night, based on conversations with state and county officials.
“It’s a celebration in some ways that the pandemic is waning,” Kaval said, “and we’re in a place where it’s safe enough to have fans for the first time in almost 18 months.”
A mass vaccine site has operated in the Coliseum parking lot, on the stadium’s north side, since February. The setup will allow fans to attend games while the site is running, Kaval said; fans will have to enter from the Hegenberger Road side and park in the south lots.
The A’s started selling ticket vouchers for 2021 regularseason home games last month. Those will be redeemable starting March 18, the team said, and traditional singlegame tickets will go on sale March 23.
“To get to this point, I think, is a seminal moment … where people are starting to understand things are returning to a little bit of normal and you can attend the American pastime,” Kaval said. “We’re really proud to find a safe way to do that, to have partnered with the state and county to come up with these protocols and work together on them, and we’re excited to welcome everyone home on April 1.”
The Giants also released a statement, saying they are “very encouraged” by Friday’s news while acknowledging they still need final approval from local health officials. The team said it would submit its operational plans to local health officials “in the coming days.”
“Given that San Francisco is currently operating in the red tier and conditions are steadily improving, we are hopeful we can welcome a limited number of fans back to Oracle Park beginning with our home opener on April 9,” the Giants said.
The Giants begin their season April 1 in Seattle, where the Mariners currently do not plan to permit fans, and then move to San Diego for a series April 57. San Diego County is in the purple tier but expects to move into the red tier soon.
“To get to this point, I think, is a seminal moment … where people are starting to understand things are returning to a little bit of normal and you can attend the American pastime.”
Dave Kaval, A’s president