Fenway Park, TD Garden, Gillette Stadium Allowed To Increase Capacity On May 10
BOSTON (CBS) -- There will soon be more sports fans in seats around Boston.
Governor Charlie Baker's office released new guidelines for the state of Massachusetts on Tuesday, with an increase in capacity for indoor and outdoor sporting arenas among them.
The restrictions -- which are currently set at limiting capacity to 12 percent -- are set to change to 25 percent capacity on May 10.
"Large venues such as indoor and outdoor stadiums, arenas and ballparks currently operating at 12% capacity can increase crowds to 25%" the announcement stated.
Fenway Park has been admitting roughly 4,500 fans for Red Sox home games this year, while the Bruins and Celtics have been admitting a little more than 2,000 fans per game since late March. The Revolution held their first home game last weekend at Gillette Stadium in front of about 8,000 fans in the 68,000-seat stadium. The increase will get the Red Sox to over 9,000 fans, with the TD Garden capacity growing to roughly 4,500 fans.
The Bruins play the final home game of their regular season on May 10, and they currently are in position to make the playoffs. The Celtics host their final regular-season home game on May 11 and likewise are in position to play in the postseason.
As far as the New England Patriots are concerned, Tuesday's announcement also noted that it's possible that "all restrictions will be lifted and capacity will increase to 100% for all industries" on Aug. 1. That plan could be reevaluated "depending on vaccine distribution and public health data."