Baseball season is here and so will all those ballpark staples. However, how the food will get to you is a different matter.
The following written content by H.J. Mai
Hot dogs. Peanuts. Cold Beer. Food – especially the unhealthy kind – has long been an indelible part of the baseball fan experience.
And as a new baseball season kicks off, all those ballpark staples will still be available. How that food gets to you, however, will be a different matter.
With the Major League Baseball season starting off with much reduced capacity at most ballparks and with social distancing rules, teams have had to think hard about how to interact with their fans.
Attendance limits have been put in place by all teams except for the Texas Rangers, with most at or below 50% capacity.
“Things are going to be definitely different,” says Jonathan Stahl, vice president of experience and hospitality for the Washington Nationals.
“We want to limit the interaction between our staff and our guests, which is something that we generally never think of because we want to increase the interaction between the staff and our guests,” he adds. “But in this situation, safety has to be the number one priority.”
(In fact, the Nationals had to postpone its Opening Day game against the New York Mets after one player tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report on Thursday in The Washington Post).
Some of these changes are likely to be welcomed by fans. Standing in long lines at concession stands, for example.
That’s because fans will be encouraged to use mobile apps to order concessions that they can go pick up at set locations. At some ballparks, fans will even be able to have the food or drink delivered to them at their seats, given that limited capacity and social distancing makes it easier to walk through the rows.
But other changes will likely be missed.
Aramark, which provides food and beverage service for nine MLB teams, will eliminate self-serve soda fountains and condiment trays at its venues.
Ballparks are also going cashless, which means fans will no longer pass a $20 bill down the aisle to pay a vendor and get their hot dog handed down the row in return. Read more from NPR.
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