Last season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nobody took anybody out to the ballgame anywhere in the country except for the last rounds of the playoffs and World Series when Texas allowed a few thousand fans into Globe Life Field in Arlington.

It looks as though all that is about to change. This year Major League Baseball is hoping for, and counting on, a full 162-game season with plenty of fans in the seats. Maybe by the all-star break we'll be hearing about even more capacity restrictions being lifted, and ballparks can once again boast about sold-out games.

Until then, we're going to have to make due with the fact that while fans will be allowed in to see their favorite teams play this season, it'll (mostly) be within a 20 to 25 percent capacity range.

Now word comes from Chicago that the Chicago Cubs, who had initially been granted approval for 20 percent capacity for the start of the season at Wrigley Field, have been told that they can raise that number to 25 percent, meaning that 2000 more fans will be allowed into the ballpark. That would raise attendance limits from a little over 8,000 people to just over 10,000.

Let's take a look to see what some other MLB teams are allowing for attendance this season (CBS Sports):

  • Chicago White Sox: Unless a change is allowed in the next few days, the White Sox will be at 20% capacity to start the season.
  • Milwaukee Brewers: The Brew Crew will open the year at 25% capacity, even though they'd argued for 35%.
  • St. Louis Cardinals: Busch Stadium will start the 2021 MLB season by allowing 32% capacity, which is around 14,000 fans.
  • The Texas Rangers (being from Texas) are going to do things bigger:

 

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