No bags, no purses, no outside food, and no tailgating — but brooms up to three feet are still welcome to celebrate sweeping a division opponent.

The Tampa Bay Rays have new health and safety protocols for the 2021 season that fans will want to know before attending a game at Tropicana Field this season.

Safety First

Before we dive into the changes it is important to note the team has made updates to the facility including installing UV lights and bi-polar ionization units in the air conditioning units in order to break down harmful contaminants including coronavirus. Additionally, they have installed higher minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) air filters to further trap small particles from the air. These changes are important considering Tropicana Field is a fully enclosed dome.

Fans 2 years of age and older will be required to properly wear a face mask over the nose and mouth while inside the ballpark including fans that have been vaccinated. The exception to wearing a mask is while actively eating and drinking from the assigned seat.

Prohibited Items

On the Rays website they have the following items listed as being prohibited from being taken into Tropicana Field.

• Bags, purses, backpacks and coolers of any kind, including clear bags
• Alcoholic beverages
• Weapons of any kind, including firearms, knives and chemical sprays larger than .5 ounce.
• Fireworks or other explosives
• Items that could be projectiles
• Cameras with lenses longer than 12”
• Bullhorns, airhorns and other excessively loud noisemakers
• Lasers
• Brooms longer than 3’
• Anything that can obstruct the view of other fans
• Wrapped presents or gifts
• Other items as determined by Tropicana Field security and Rays staff

The bag policy varies from stadium to stadium across the MLB in 2021. For anyone that made the trip down to Marlins Park for Opening Day, the bag portion of the policy is the most notable difference. The Marlins allowed for small bags or clutch-style purses no larger than 4.5 x 6.5 inches

Other Changes

Some of the other changes are not as obvious and can be found in the Tropicana Field Information Guide. Some of the changes include:

• No outside food or beverage with the exception of a personal-sized water bottle, food needed for medical reasons, or food in diaper bags for infants.
• No smoking, including e-cigarettes on the property.
• No tailgating or grilling during the 2021 season.
• No “Run the Bases” activities during the 2021 season.

More details on the Rays 2021 Health and Safety Protocol can be found here. Security information can be found here, and the A-Z guide here. All of these resources contain pieces of the changes for 2021.