KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Baseball games in empty stadiums could soon be a thing of the past.
Major League Baseball announced Monday that the season will start on time and a limited number of fans will be allowed in the stands for games starting at Spring Training.
Anyone going to a game this upcoming season will not need a COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination or even a temperature check. However, they will have to sit at least six feet apart from others and wear masks unless eating or drinking. There will also be a buffer zone around dugouts, meaning no fans in the first three rows unless a team puts up Plexiglas.
Fans will also be allowed to watch as soon as Spring Training.
Before Monday’s decision, the MLB discussed shortening the season by eight games and delaying the start of the season by a month. They wanted to give the country more time to get more vaccine out there.
However, the player’s union rejected the offer.
Teams will play a full 162 game season and revert to the same rules as before the pandemic — no expanded playoffs, no seven-inning doubleheaders, no starting extra innings with a runner at second base and no designated hitter in the National League.