Sugar Land Skeeters: How the franchise re-invented itself in COVID-19 world
By Paul Conlon
The ballpark experience
What’s the ballpark experience like?
From experiencing the facility during a Constellation Energy League game firsthand, I can say with relative certainty that the atmosphere felt relaxed, and did not appear any more crowded than a large grocery store. Moreover, fans in their assigned seats appeared much more spread out than two shoppers randomly walking past one another on an aisle. The stadium’s current seating plan features an intentionally decreased capacity that provides appropriate social distancing between non-related parties.
At Constellation Field, all patrons receive a temperature check upon entry, and must wear a mask throughout the ballpark except at their own seat. Furthermore, fans can order food and beverages through an app from their seats, and have purchases delivered by a masked employee while they watch the game. Additionally, Constellation Field features informative signage and hand sanitizer access for all patrons.
The Constellation Energy League stadium experience features the ambiance one comes to expect from an Atlantic League professional baseball game. Constellation Field features an announcer, walk-up music for batters, crowd interactive activities displayed on a recently upgraded center-field video board, friendly ushers, as well as some staff operating the manual scoreboard in left field, and, of course, the fragrance of delicious-smelling food. The only touch missing to me at the game I attended, as far as I could tell, was a visible radar display for fans to get a sense of how hard these prospects who desire to make it to the majors throw their various types of pitches.