ST. LOUIS — More Cardinals fans will soon be able to fill the seats at Busch Stadium under new guidance from the team and the City of St. Louis.
The Cardinals have been approved to nearly double the game attendance by moving seating pods as close as three feet apart. The changes are effective May 21, just in time for a weekend series against the Cubs.
This is an increase of more than 10,000 tickets that can be sold per game.
Tickets for the Cardinals-Cubs series are on sale now on the Cardinals' website.
To accommodate the increase of guests at the ballpark, gate times will open two hours before first pitch on Friday-Sunday games and one-and-a-half hours before first pitch on Monday-Thursday games.
So far this season, Busch Stadium has been limited to up to 32% capacity. The stadium has 46,000 seats, which means up to 14,720 tickets have been sold per game. The team has been selling tickets month-by-month to be flexible with any changing COVID-19 health protocols, case trends and vaccine rates.
The Cardinals have made several changes this season to help keep fans safe, including spacing out ticket groups, requiring masks, switching to mobile-only ticketing and banning most bags from being brought into the stadium.
In addition to the capacity increase, the team announced a three-day vaccine event at the Cardinals Club inside Busch Stadium.
The event will be held:
- Wednesday, May 12 (9 a.m.— 4 p.m.)
- Thursday, May 13 (9 a.m. — 4 p.m.)
- Friday, May 14 (9 a.m. — 1 p.m.)
Every person that gets vaccinated at the event will get a voucher good for two free tickets to a 2021 Cardinals game. Free parking will be offered for the vaccine event at the Starr Lot directly across the street from Gate 2. You are asked to register beforehand by clicking here.
With the capacity increase, the team is looking to hire ushers and event staff. Interested applicants can visit cardinals.com//jobs.
This is a developing story that will be updated when 5 On Your Side confirms additional details.