San Francisco Giants to welcome fans back to Oracle Park for home opener

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Francisco Giants will welcome fans back to Oracle Park on Friday.

It's not only their first home game of the season, but also their first game with fans in the stands since the pandemic began last year.

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The team wants fans to know the experience will be very different and they made a lot of changes to try and make sure this is a safe experience for everyone.

Fans will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test at the gate or they can show they have ben fully vaccinated for at least two weeks.

They will be assigned a gate. The stadium has been divided into nine zones. Fans can will enter a gate in one of those zones and use the restrooms and concessions in those areas -- this is to keep everyone spread out.

Fans will order food from their seats on their phones and then pick it up when they receive word that it is ready.

Team executives say it's a lot of change but worth the work to get to see their fans.

"This is the very first big event in San Francisco since we all shut down back in March, so it's absolutely imperative that people take the extra step to get tested, or show they're fully vaccinated, because you know it's not just what's going on in the ballpark, it's the surrounding community and we want to make it a safe environment for everyone," said Giants spokesperson Staci Slaughter.

There will be 8,900 fans at Oracle Park and they are only allowed to have 22% of the ballpark capacity. They don't know when that will change -- that's why they have only sold tickets for April games. They are waiting to see what the health department says they can do in May.

Friday's game is sold out but there are still tickets available for games this weekend.

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