HOUSTON – The Houston Astros announced that it will increase to maximum capacity for fans at Minute Maid Park for the remainder of the season starting Tuesday.
The announcement came after the CDC recently updated its guidelines for Major League Baseball. Currently, any additional tickets to reach full capacity for Astros home games through June 3 are now available. For games after June 3, tickets will become available starting May 28.
The Astros will no longer require masks for fully vaccinated fans at Minute Maid Park. Those who are not fully vaccinated will be encouraged to wear masks. The team will require Astros and game-day employees to show proof of vaccination before removing their masks while on site. Team officials said all other health and safety measures will remain in place.
According to a release, Astros-owned Minor League affiliates, which are the Sugar Land Skeeters, Corpus Christi Hooks, and Fayetteville Woodpeckers, will also move to maximum capacity for the remainder of their seasons and follow the same mask policies as the Major League club.
More than 34,000 fans made their way into Minute Maid Park for the Astros game on Tuesday night, the first home game since the team announced it would increase to maximum capacity. The official attendance for the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was 34,443. While not a sellout, that marks the largest crowd so far this season.
“This is my first game in probably two years so I’m super stoked,” said Ryan Harrison.
The Astros also said fans who are fully vaccinated do not have to wear masks inside, but some chose to do so anyway.
“I’m going to still wear my mask even though I’m fully vaccinated just to be safe, for the safety of myself and for others,” said Angela Molina, a Houston resident.
“I think it’s great,” said Stephen Ricks. “It’s great for the community to be able to get back out there and got to get back to what we used to do.”