Rays Planning To Allow 7,000 Fans In The Trop For Games

Author Geno

January 15th, 2021 11:49 AM

The Tampa Bay Rays have announced they will allow about 1/4 of the seats to be filled at Tropicana Field this season. Go ahead… make the obvious joke if you feel the need to.

Fans will sit in “pods” so they stay socially-distanced from others in attendance. The Times thinks they’ll likely open the upper deck seats back up so they can keep fans apart easier. And yes, face masks will be required.

They say there will be plexiglass installed in parts of the stadium to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading The Rays season is about 3 months away so we’ll see where we are in Florida at that point. The home opener is scheduled for April 9 against the Yankees. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

5 Big Changes For the 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning Season

For Tampa Bay Lightning fans, the offseason was a short one. The Bolts are back to defend the Stanley Cup. There are a few big differences you’ll notice this year.

• No Bubble

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  You may remember the Lightning played their games in Toronto during last year's shortened season. Regular season games this year will be played in team home arenas. That means there will be more of a risk of COVID-19 spread and it's already forced the rescheduling of a few games.

• Stammer is back!

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  Steven Stamkos had surgery in the short offseason and has been looking solid during training camp. We'll never forget his amazing goal as he had a short but sweet appearance during the playoffs. Stamkos was playing hurt, but in one shift, scored a key goal for the Bolts.

• No Fans

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  The Lightning hoped to be able to allow a limited number of fans in to "Be The Thunder," but given the spike in coronavirus cases in Florida, the seats will be kept empty for at least the start of the season. Tickets are on sale for games later this year.
• More Ads

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  The NHL is taking a pretty big hit not being able to sell tickets to games so they've made space on players' helmets available for ads. There are also ads on the glass and empty seats.

• Changes In The Broadcast Booth

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  Play by play guy Rick Peckham has retired. He's been replaced by Dave Randorf, who once did play by play for the Montreal Canadiens. NBCSN has made changes too. Lightning fans might miss Rick Peckham, but few will miss Mike Milbury.

• Kuuuuuuuuuuch

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  Hip surgery means Nikita Kucherov is unfortunately out for the season. But they think he might be available for a playoff run.

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Author Geno

Category:

• Geno
• Trending in Florida

Tags:

Coronavirus,COVID-19,Sports,St. Petersburg,Tampa Bay Rays