Fewer than 11,000 fans would be allowed inside Petco Park under California's 25% capacity limitGETTY IMAGES
The Padres "would have been a hot ticket in 2021 even without health restrictions expected to severely diminish available inventory," but seeing them in person "might not be as easy as just walking up to the ticket window on game day" given California's 25% capacity limit, according to Kevin Acee of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Current state COVID-19 restrictions specify that "even sports venues located in the least-restrictive tier would have to limit capacity" to 25%. That would mean fewer than 11,000 fans "would be allowed inside Petco Park while the state is under the tier system." The Padres said that they "already have sold the equivalent of 11,000 full-season ticket plans." Padres President of Business Operations Erik Greupner said that the anticipation is capacity "will increase throughout the season as the COVID vaccine is more widely distributed." But most MLB people anticipate there "will be no fans in the stands early in the season, although that's somewhat dependent on when games begin." There already "exists the possibility that even those with a season ticket membership will not be able to see as many games as they have paid for." Greupner said that those members "would be refunded in that case" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/8).
