While the Los Angeles Dodgers finally broke through and won the World Series in 2020, it came under unusual circumstances due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Unfortunately for Dodgers fans, they did not get to watch their favorite team in person this year due to attendance not being permitted. The majority of the postseason was played at a neutral site, so L.A. didn’t even get to clinch the World Series at Dodger Stadium, instead winning it at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Reduced attendance was permitted for the National League Championship Series and World Series, at least, so a handful of Dodgers fans got to witness the team winning its first championship in 32 years.
With the pandemic still a big issue in the country, it remains to be seen if the 2021 season will be similar this year, or if fans will be allowed in stadiums. Dodgers president Stan Kasten does not yet know the answer to that either, although he says the organization is preparing as if there will be fans at games, via Jess Golden of CNBC:
“I think right now we are planning a full season. We are planning on having fans in attendance, as I speak to you today in Los Angeles, it’s a very difficult time. Because COVID is spiking in L.A., it’s spiking everywhere in the country. But Opening day is a good four or five months away, and hopefully there will be progress on getting the rates of infection in hand. Hopefully by then we will have one or more vaccines available to help make it even safer for fans to come.
“So my guess is that we will have a full season, and we are planning for having full stadiums, but we will adapt and do what we have to do to get the season done. What we proved this year was, whatever the conditions, we can pull off a season, get it to completion and produce a world championship.”
L.A. County has some of the most strict coronavirus restrictions in place, so barring some big improvements in the next few months, there is a good chance there won’t be fans at Dodger Stadium to begin the season despite Kasten’s comments.
The best-case scenario for the Dodgers would be that a limited number of fans are allowed to attend games, similar to how it was during the NLCS and World Series.
Kasten says Dodgers lost $100 million in 2020
Because the entire 2020 season was playing in empty stadiums, Kasten recently revealed that the Dodgers lost more than $100 million in revenue over the last year.
That will likely be the case again in 2021 if fans aren’t allowed into Dodger Stadium, so there is no doubt that Kasten and the organization are hoping that will not happen and that fans can enjoy the new renovations that Chavez Ravine recently underwent.
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