MLB Wants Fans to Be Allowed in Stands for the NLCS and World Series in Texas

Major League Baseball has had zero attendance for the 2020 regular season, which was the plan all along. Now though commissioner Rob Manfred has come out and stated that he would like there to be fans in the stands for the portion of the postseason, which is slated to be played at the new ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Manfred said he'd like there to be fans for the NLCS and World Series, and is waiting on approval from the state's government to put the wheels in motion to make it happen.

It’s been a frustrating season as fans have not been able to attend any Major League Baseball games across the country, but it sounds like that could change for the postseason.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he is expecting there to be fans at the new ballpark in Arlington, which will host the upcoming NL Championship series’ as well as the World Series.

The playoffs are going to be staged at ballparks in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston and Arlington, Texas.

If the Indians can get past the best-of-three first round series likely against the White Sox in Chicago, they would travel out west and play in either San Diego or Los Angeles, starting on September 29th.

Manfred told Nightengale he is hopeful that government officials in Texas would allow for fans to be able to be able to attend the NLCS and then the World Series.

“It’s been grueling for everyone, the constant feeling of risk, the grinding, everything so different than the way we normally do things,’’ Manfred told USA TODAY.

“The best way to say it is that 2020 presented some really, really difficult challenges for the sport, and I never worked harder to try to meet those challenges.

“I do take pride that we’re just a few days away from finishing the (regular) season, an important milestone for the industry.’’

There’s no doubt that thinks didn’t look so good for Major League Baseball early on into the 60-game season, as just days into the season games had to be cancelled as the Miami Marlins had a covid-19 outbreak on their team.

Shortly after that it was the St.Louis Cardinals who had the same issue and had to cancel a number of games, so many that they will wrap up the year at 58 games and not 60 if they don’t have any more postponed.

For the game to have had as many ups and downs as it’s had and be able to still have a full playoffs with the expanded teams is something the game should take pride in.

Hopefully no playoff teams will have any health issues that will affect the posteason as a whole, and all the games can get played, and even better would be if even just the NLCS and the World Series could have fans in the stands enjoying those games.

If fans are allowed, it could be a great testing point to see how teams might be able to introduce allowing fans back into parks all over the country.

It’s critical for the health and more so the finance of the game that fans are allowed back into parks next season.

The game was able to survive this year minus fans, but it would be a massive strain on mid-market teams like the Indians if the ‘no fans’ policy stretches into 2021.

Getting fans into the ballpark down in Arlington for the NLCS and World Series would be a great start for fans to start looking forward to 2021.