Tampa Bay Rays fans who are fully vaccinated soon will no longer be required to wear masks at Tropicana Field.
The team announced masks will be optional on Wednesday, the same day they announced capacity will increase to 20,000 fans starting in June.
This comes after recent health guidelines announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.
The optional mask policy will begin with the Rays' May 25 series against the Kansas City Royals.
Please note the following update regarding the mask policy at Tropicana Field.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 19, 2021
Fans age 2 and older who are not vaccinated will still be required to wear a mask at all times while in the ballpark.
In a separate announcement, the Rays said they will begin to allow 20,000 fans into Tropicana Field starting in June.
Currently, 9,000 fans are allowed into the Trop, with seating in socially distanced pods and the 300 upper-deck level — which had closed in 2019 — open to allow for more spacing.
Fans will have two seating options — full-capacity sections with no social distancing, and sections 203-224, which will allow seating in socially distanced pods of one to six people, with a minimum of 6 feet in between each pod.
The team said the upper-deck 300 level will once again be closed starting in June, to bring fans closer to the field.
Tickets are on sale for home games until May 30.
