* The state rules allow 20 percent seating occupancy for outdoor sports, so this is right in line with that…
The Chicago Cubs and White Sox will be allowed to have more than 8,000 fans in the stands on Opening Day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Monday.
Lightfoot said the city will allow 8,122 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field beginning on Opening Day, while 8,274 fans will be allowed per game at Wrigley Field. […]
There must be six feet between parties in the stands, the city said.
…Adding… If they hold it outside, likely yes…
*** UPDATE *** WTVO…
The Illinois High School Association announced Monday that schools can allow 20% capacity at outdoor sporting venues.
The IHSA cited guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health on the announcement.
The rules apply to any region in Phase 4 of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 10:46 am:
Tickets on the secondary market are going to cost a fortune.
- Chicagonk - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:00 am:
I wonder if they will add a COVID surcharge to ticket prices.
- SouthSide Markie - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:00 am:
Younger fans are going to get to see what a trip to Wrigley Field was like in the 1970’s, when the Cubs regularly closed the upper deck for lack of attendance.
- Ok - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:02 am:
So, about typical for Sox Park, then?
- Rich Hill - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:04 am:
We will go back to normal as a society when, and not a moment before, $1 Hot Dog Wednesdays return to Comiskey.
- Excitable Boy - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:33 am:
- White Sox will be allowed to have more than 8,000 fans in the stands -
The last Sox game I went to was a few years ago and I’m positive there weren’t 8k in attendance.
- North Park - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:40 am:
To the Auto Show:
Hopefully they are able to get it in this year, my dad and I haven’t missed a year since the late ’80s when he’d pull me out of school for a day so we could beat the weekend crowds. I flew back from the west coast for a couple of years there so to not break the auto show tradition.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:44 am:
Baseball: Good, I hope there is another plan increase capacity by May 1. I would also think there should be a concerted effort to vaccinate the people that work in these “event” industries. I know more WFH health care workers who have had both shots than retail workers who even have their first.
The Auto Show:
COVID was on my mind walking the show last year.
- OldSmoky2 - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 11:55 am:
The Sox are very good and will draw well this year, just as they did in the mid-2000s.
- Nagidam - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 12:10 pm:
So nothing really changes as this is typical attendance at Down Arrow Field and the line to the bathrooms at Wrigley.
- ChicagoBars - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 12:30 pm:
If the City is aligning with the State for pro sports teams can Chicago now also align with the State’s indoor service guidelines for bars and restaurants too?
- Keyrock - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 12:32 pm:
I’m surprised. I thought given the politics of most of the Cubs ownership, only the Sox would be allowed to open up for fans.
I would have been fine with that.
- Lefty Lefty - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 12:51 pm:
Excited for the high school kids with some decent crowds at their football and soccer games starting this week. The 50-person limit was going to cause some trouble for football teams with 40+ kids on the rosters.
- Essential State Employee - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 12:57 pm:
==Younger fans are going to get to see what a trip to Wrigley Field was like in the 1970’s, when the Cubs regularly closed the upper deck for lack of attendance.==
8,200ish is only about 1100 less than the 9,391 paid attendance to see the Cubs-Dodgers on Apr. 29, 1983. That was the day of the Lee Elia tirade.
https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/1/26/3890354/cubs-history-game-april-29-1983
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 1:57 pm:
Looking forward to attending a few Sox games this year. Maybe a little later in the season, though.
- Jaguar - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 2:23 pm:
Last year, I had a 10 game ticket package with the Sox for bleacher seats. I rolled it over to this year. I traded emails with them a couple of weeks ago and am going to circle back with them after I get the vaccine, hopefully by the end of next month.
- bogey golfer - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 3:22 pm:
Was at Sloan Park in Mesa last week. 3200 attendance that normally holds 15,000. They zip-tie close the unsold seats. Masks are required. Cashless, swipe your card.
Fans will be scattered throughout the park in groups of 2, 4, or 6.
- MyTwoCents - Monday, Mar 8, 21 @ 4:57 pm:
So what will the “let kids play” people say now? If they had gotten their way there would have been no fans in the seats during the fall, now because IHSA and IDPH stuck to the plan and waited til spring parents can watch their kids play football and other outdoor sports. But will those coaches and athletes admit they were wrong? I highly doubt it.