Rockies to allow 12,500 fans at Coors
Equivalent to 25% of Coors Field’s capacity
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Rockies announced Friday that they have been approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to host 12,500 fans beginning on opening day, April 1.
For fans as well as Lodo vendors and restaurants, the equivalent to 25% of Coors Field’s capacity is far better than the total shutout at the gates last season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fans were not allowed to attend any of the 30 homes games the Rockies played during the 60-game season.
“That’s about 12,500 reasons to go back to work out there,” said Joel Watkins, who has operated his Diamond Dogs hot-dog stand outside the stadium since it opened in 1995. “I’m tr ying to stay positive about the whole thing. Baseball is back in Denver, even if the fans are limited, the team’s not supposed to be ver y good and people are mad that Nolan Arenado got traded.”
An email sent by the club to season ticket holders on Feb. 8 said ticket requests will be prioritized based on the length of an individual’s season ticket tenure. There will be an online reservation system to buy tickets, which will be sold in “pods” of 2-4 tickets. The email also laid out some of the COVID-19 precautions being taken at the stadium in 2021.
All fans will be required to wear a mask except when eating or drinking. Physical distancing will be enforced, as seating will be available in all levels and sections of Coors Field. There will be enhanced cleaning protocols and sanitation stations throughout the stadium, and the team is creating a new seating manifest to accommodate physical distancing requirements.
Longtime season-ticket holder Bill Stahl said that while he wants to see more exact health and safety measures before he commits to going to opening day against the Dodgers, he’s encouraged that the Rockies fans who are able to get tickets will have a somewhat normal baseball experience this summer.
“I’ll have to see some more firm details first, but being that you’re out in the open air, I’d be willing to go so long as I know it’s not going to be a sardine factor y,” Stahl said. “Like a lot of fans, I just love to be at the ballpark. And I feel it will be safe, especially after seeing the success the Broncos had in hosting fans (for four games at Empower Field) this past fall.”
For some fans, the exciting prospect of returning to Coors Field after being away for a season is made bittersweet by lingering animosity over the Arenado trade to St. Louis.
“I’m still bitter about Arenado,” said longtime season ticket holder Tim Rogers. “I’m just not excited to see this team right now and to sit through the early April months watching them when it’s going to be chilly. On the other side of that coin, I’m excited to go to a game come July and August for the experience and with my 8-year-old son… Walk around, eat the peanuts, get some ice cream. I’m really looking for ward to that. But the product that’s on the field, there’s nothing to be excited about.”
For the Rockies players, 12,500 fans is cer tainly better than ar tificial crowd noise they experienced in 2020.
“That’s 12,500 more than last year,” outfielder Charlie Blackmon said. “It is a good star t.”
The attendance variance is also a shot in the arm for vendors like Watkins and restaurateurs like Chris
Fuselier, who owns Blake Street Tavern. Bars and restaurants are still dealing with their own restrictions on capacity. Watkins said he will be happy to walk away with a small profit from opening day, which is typically the biggest money-making day of the year for those catering to Coors Field fans.
“Normally it’s a $150,000-day (for us), but that’s packed wall-to-wall…. and that’s with hundreds of people here during the game too,” said Fuselier, who is also a longtime season ticket holder. “But I’m really encouraged to have even 12,500 people in Lodo on opening day and for any game, because let’s be frank, downtown has been a ghost town for the past year. There’s no sports, no arts, no culture, only about 10 percent of the workforce. Just having that foot traffic is going to help a lot, because a lot of those fans are going to go to local restaurants and bars before, during and after the game.”
The Rockies begin their Cactus League season Sunday against Arizona at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The ballpark is also allowing limited capacity for those spring training games. Crowds of 2,200, about 17% of capacity, will be allowed at Salt River Fields. All of the tickets for those games are sold out.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Rockies said they “will continue to monitor the conditions (of the pandemic), with the hope of safely adding to the capacity number in the future.”