The Texas Ranger filled less than a third of their stadium despite the state's allowance for full capacity

• Only 12,911 spectators showed up to the Texas Rangers' home exhibition game on Monday.
• The Rangers' Stadium Globe Life Field seats up to 40,000.
• The State of Texas has allowed full capacity attendance for sporting events.

The Texas Rangers' home exhibition game against the Milwaukee Brewers only drew 12,911 spectators on Monday, filling less than a third of Globe Life Field's 40,000 seats.

This game marked the first home game for the Rangers since the opening of Globe Life Field. Spectators were allowed to attend the World Series and NLCS at the new park last season in a limited capacity. Still, Rangers fans did not have the opportunity to see their team play at the newly-opened venue until Monday, as the pandemic kept the stands empty for the stadium's first regular season.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot announced earlier this month that the state would open 100%, and remove all mask mandates. The Rangers then announced plans to allow full stadium capacity for the upcoming baseball season one week later.

Monday's exhibition game saw fans, many without masks, sit close to one another without any social distancing mandates. The lower attendance did reduce the risk of the virus' spread at the event. However, that risk is expected to grow with growing attendance in the coming weeks.

Globe Life Field could have been, and still can be, the site of the most-attended sporting event of the pandemic, but the game against the Brewers was not a strong enough draw. That was to be expected with a pre-season game. However, the Rangers are scheduled to play their home opener on April 5 against The Toronto Blue Jays.

In Texas, COVID-19 cases have dipped slightly, but the state is still seeing an average of 3,871 new cases per day, according to The New York Times. The state is also lagging in its vaccine efforts compared to the rest of the country, as it ranked 47 out of 50 in total percentage of the population that's received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to CBS News.

With Texas' absent social distancing mandates, the Rangers' home opener is projected to easily surpass Super Bowl LIV as the most-attended sporting event since the pandemic began.