Milwaukee’s major pro sports teams announced Tuesday that fan capacity at home games will expand to 50%, due to the city Health Department’s updated health and safety guidelines.
The Milwaukee Bucks will be able to host 9,000 fans at Fiserv Forum for the NBA Playoffs, which start later this month. Previously, the Health Department had approved the arena to host fans at 18% capacity, or about 3,300 fans.
Safety protocols such as face masks and seating pods remain in place. Limited single-game tickets for Bucks playoff games will go on sale to the public this Friday, May 14 at 12 p.m.
The Milwaukee Brewers will be able to host up about 21,000 fans at American Family Field, beginning with this Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Its previous capacity limit was 25%, or about 10,475 fans.
There will be two designated social distancing seating sections in the Loge Level of the ballpark, where seating pods will remain separated by six feet. Fans who hold full and partial season ticket packages will receive an email this week detailing their seating options moving forward.
The Health Department’s new guidelines, announced Tuesday afternoon, allow higher indoor capacities at businesses that have approved safety plans. Beginning on May 15, self-service can be reinstated at all establishments, including salad bars, beverage stations and buffets.
“We’ve made this decision after looking at the past year of trends in COVID cases,” said Milwaukee health commissioner Kirsten Johnson said Tuesday afternoon during a briefing with reporters, citing a drop in cases and rising vaccination levels.
Asked whether the city was changing the health order specifically for the Brewers and Bucks, Johnson said the county isn’t changing the Phase 6 order; “It’s really about adjusting the terms of the safety plans.”
“The players certainly feed off the energy, and … both the Bucks and Brewers really have been good partners with us in setting the health protocols,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “So it was with trends that we were seeing that led the health department to reach the decision that they could increase the capacity.”
