{"id":2839,"date":"2020-05-20T17:28:07","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T17:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=2839"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:12","slug":"durham-bulls-still-hoping-for-games-with-fans-and-a-half-full-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/05\/20\/durham-bulls-still-hoping-for-games-with-fans-and-a-half-full-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham Bulls still hoping for games with fans (and a half-full stadium)"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Durham Bulls are in limbo, awaiting a decision by Major League Baseball about starting a shortened season this summer. But the vice president of the Bulls said Tuesday night that he\u2019s hopeful the team can resume games with fans in July, although social distancing will require the stadium be kept at no more than 50% of its capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve been following in the news, Major League Baseball is looking at a condensed season,\u201d Mike Birling, the minor league club\u2019s vice president for baseball operations, told fans in a Zoom call. \u201cThey\u2019re negotiating right now with the Players\u2019 Association, so really until that gets figured out, we\u2019re kind of stuck.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Birling said that although major league teams could survive without fans in the stands, minor league teams depend on revenue from fans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have made it very clear to Major League Baseball that in no way do we want to have a season if there are no fans in the stands. It just doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the major league level it works because you have hundreds of millions of dollars in TV revenue. The amount of money we are losing already, and then if you throw in team travel and everything else, no team would be able survive that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Bulls held the town hall meeting Tuesday night for 919 Club Members, fans that buy season tickets or other ticket packages. The meeting gave fans a chance to ask questions about everything from merchandise to what mascot Wool E. Bull is doing to pass the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Birling said the Bulls are preparing for all scenarios.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If there is a season, Birling said there is a possibility of games resuming in early July and stretching into late September or early October, rather than ending in late August. It\u2019s unclear if there will be minor league playoffs because league officials may decide playing more games is preferable to crowning a champion.<\/span><\/p>\n If there are games, fans should also be prepared for a new normal at the ballpark, including social distancing in the stands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham Bulls Athletic Park can seat up to 10,000 fans, but Birling said that the capacity would be maxed at 50% \u2013 and that he would be shocked if they were allowed to have even 5,000 people in the stadium.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fans would be spread out throughout the stadium, but families and people that have purchased tickets together would not be required to social-distance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you had four season tickets, we\u2019d skip a couple seats, and skip the row behind you,\u201d he said<\/span><\/p>\n Birling and other team employees in the meeting said the Bulls are doing as much as they can to assure season ticket holders that if they are assigned new seats, they will be as close to their original seats as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n