Cristian Rodriguez

When the Texas Rangers opener becomes the first major sporting event to have full seating this spring, it might seem as if events will start coming back in full swing this summer. Instead, this could spell disaster in the near future.

Last week, the Rangers opened up to a jam packed crowd, selling over 38,000 tickets in their opening day. Fans were not socially distanced and despite the mask requirement, there seemed to be little enforcement of the rule when fans were seated. Looking at the crowd, it felt as though there was a sense of normalcy.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the virus spread throughout the stadium, health directors have already stated their safety concerns with gathering such a large group; the Tarrant County health director being one of the most prominent voices last week. “COVID is still active. Flu is still active. Are we really wanting to ask for trouble? No, let’s not do that. Let’s be sensible about it,” he said.

A new variant of COVID has also begun to sweep the U.S. as well, further putting the decision in doubt. This variant, considered a “double mutant” strain, is more contagious than the previous. Since this strain is fairly new, there’s still a lot that health officials are unsure of but this strain could possibly have more or worsened symptoms than previous strains.

Because of this new strain, major events throughout the summer may not be at full capacity as they were planned, and if the Rangers’ decision backfires, it may just throw the entire idea out of the window. Knowingly or unknowingly, the Texas Rangers stadium has become a testing site to see if we’re truly ready for major events to return in full effect.