As Opening Day of the 2021 MLB season approaches on Thursday, April 1, fans across the country will soon return to their home teams' ballparks -- in most cases for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
But there will be limitations -- particularly when it comes to capacity -- that won't be uniform across the league. State and local governments will have a lot of say in determining how many fans can safely attend live sporting events (if any), a figure likely to change with fluctuations in the spread of COVID-19 and vaccination rates.
Last season, all regular-season games and most postseason contests were played in front of empty stands.