Arlington, Texas –The Texas Rangers begin the 2019 regular season on Thursday, March 28 versus the Chicago Cubs in the club’s 26th and final home opener at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers’ 48th overall opener in Arlington will begin at 3:05 p.m.

Thursday’s opener is the beginning of a three-game series between the Rangers and Cubs with the teams also playing on Saturday, March 30 at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, March 31 at 3:05 p.m.

Information for the season opener:

TICKET AVAILABILITY: All tickets have been sold for the 2019 home opener. Good seats remain for the Saturday and Sunday games versus the Cubs. These tickets can be purchased at texasrangers.com, by calling 972-RANGERS and at the Globe Life Park in Arlington first base box office.

CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCH: The 48th Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the season opener. Governor Abbott was elected to Texas’ highest office in November 2014 and was reelected to a second four-year term last November. Richard Greene, who was instrumental in the building of The Ballpark in Arlington during his tenure as the City’s Mayor from 1987-97, will catch Governor Abbott’s first pitch. Mayor Greene had the honor of throwing the ceremonial first pitch prior to the first regular season game at The Ballpark in Arlington on April 11, 1994.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: The Star Spangled Banner will be performed by the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. Historically known of the 531st Air Force Band, the ensemble of over 30 members has a 40-year history of sustaining the tradition and heritage that has become the hallmark of military bands. The band is under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Eric Patterson. The National Anthem will be preceded by a live performance of Texas, Our Texas by Joel Lagrone. Master Sergeant Erika Stevens of the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest will perform God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch.

FLYOVER: Following the National Anthem, there will be a flyover provided by Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas.

SALUTE THE FLAG: The colors will be presented by the Dyess Air Force Base Honor Guard. Large United States and State of Texas flags will be unfurled in centerfield and on Greene’s Hill, respectively by members of the United States Air Force.

MORE ACTIVITIES: There will be on-field introductions of both the Cubs and Rangers. The Dixie Land Band will be performing on the main concourse of Globe Life Park between 12 noon and 3:00 p.m. The first 40,000 fans, 21 years of age and older will receive a Rangers Budweiser Opening Day Magnetic Schedule as they enter the park.

TIMELINE: Globe Life Park in Arlington cash parking lots will open at 10:00 a.m. and ballpark gates will open at 12 noon on opening day. The Rangers encourage fans to arrive early on opening day. As was instituted in 2015, all fans will be required to undergo Major League Baseball mandated metal detection screening before entering the ballpark.

SEASON OPENER NOTES: The Rangers are 22-25 overall in season openers, losing 2 in a row and 5 of the last 6 including a 4-1 defeat to Houston in 2018. This is the second time Texas has played National League team in the season’s opening game, suffering a 14-10 defeat to Philadelphia in 2014 at Arlington, The Rangers are 24-23 in home openers, losing the last 2 and 4 of the last 5 years. This marks the 28th time in 48 years that the Rangers have opened a season in Arlington, including 2 in a row and 4 of 5 seasons.

EARLIEST OPENER: A March 28 opener would mark the earliest that Texas has ever begun the regular season. It will be the seventh time that the Rangers have opened a season in March: March 29 in 2018, March 30 in 2003 and March 31 in 1998, 2008, 2013, and 2014.

ELVIS BACK IN THE BUILDING: Elvis Andrus is scheduled to start his 11th consecutive season opener at shortstop on Thursday which would tie Ivan Rodriguez (1992-2002) and Michael Young (2002-12) for the most opening day starts in club history.

CONSTRUCTION OBSERVATION DECK: The Rangers have an area on the upper right field concourse that overlooks the construction site of Globe Life Field. The observation deck provides a great opportunity for fans to follow the construction progress all season long. The area will be in operation from the time the Globe Life Park gates open for each game.

A GREAT CUB AND RANGER: A National Baseball Hall of Famer, pitcher Ferguson Jenkins posted six consecutive 20-win seasons for the Chicago Cubs from 1967-72 and has the Cubs logo on his plaque in Cooperstown. Jenkins is also a member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame, winning 93 games in two stints with the club, including a club record 25 victories in 1974. Jenkins, who won 284 games in a 19-year big league career, will be attending the opening season series and will be signing autographs in the New Era Autograph Alley on Saturday, March 30 from 5:30-6:15 p.m. He will also take part in the final Countdown Ceremony on Sunday, March 31.

SALUTING GLOBE LIFE PARK: The first 15,000 fans entering the park for the series finale with the Cubs on Sunday, March 31 will receive a Great Moments of Globe Life Park Calendar, which includes photos of the park’s memorable events over the last 25 years. It is also Blue Bell Ice Cream Sunday with $1.00 ice cream products on sale for youngsters, 13 and under.

ASTROS NEXT: The Houston Astros close the season’s first homestand with the first series in the 2019 Silver Boot Series presented by The Texas Lottery. Texas’ two MLB clubs will play 7:05 p.m. games on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, April 1, 2, and 3. The final game of the series is Texas Chili Company Dollar Hot Dog Night and the first Dr Pepper Autograph Wednesday of 2019.

Tickets for Rangers 2019 home games can be purchased at texasrangers.com, by calling 972RANGERS, or at the Globe Life Park in Arlington first base ticket office.

PARKING: With the ongoing construction of the new Globe Life Field, fans should be aware of the following information for 2019:

Reserved Parking Spaces (Lots E, J, & L) Parking for Reserved Lots will be the same as prior seasons.

Season Parking Passes (Lots B, C, D, and a portion of Lot M) Fans with Season Ticket Holder parking can park in any Season Ticket Holder or Cash parking lot, while spaces are available in those lots. Once Season Ticket Holder lots are full, guests can still park in Rangers Cash lots by providing their coupon to the attendant.

Cash Parking Lots (Lots F, G, N, R, S, and portions of M) These lots will accept cash, credit cards, prepaid parking passes or Season Ticket Holder coupons for access. Please note that Lots C and D will again be available only for season parking in 2019.

Valet Parking Lexus Valet Parking is available on the north, east, and west sides of Globe Life Park at $45.00 each.

AT&T Stadium Lot 4 On Opening Day, AT&T Stadium Lot 4 will open at the same time as all Rangers lots for game day parking. Attendants will accept Season Ticket Holder parking coupons, or cash, credit cards and prepaid parking passes. Other AT&T Stadium Lots could be used on Opening Day, based upon demand.

Shuttle Buses The Rangers will offer Shuttle Bus service from remote parking lots to Globe Life Field on both the north and south sides of the ballpark. Northside Lots will be picked up at marked stops along AT&T Way, Road to Six Flags and in Parking Lot F. Southside Lots will be picked up in Lot R, near the R2 entrance, plus make stops at AT&T Stadium lots which are open.

Additional Parking Six Flags Over Texas, the Arlington Convention Center and entrepreneurial lots in the Entertainment District are also expected to offer parking on Opening Day. However, since these parking lots are not controlled by the Texas Rangers, fans should contact those entities to understand hours of operation, prices and any other rules or regulations. Texas Rangers parking coupons are not accepted on these lots.

­Parking Rates for 2019

Advanced Purchase General Parking: $18.00

General Parking: $20.00

Advanced Purchase General Parking for any game can be purchased by going to texasrangers.com/parking.

Parking lots open three hours before first pitch on all games except on Opening Day, March 28, when it is five hours prior to first pitch. Regular season parking entrances are reserved for season parking holders for up to 30 minutes prior to game time.

Communication

Fans should monitor @RangersInfo on Twitter for up to the minute information on parking availability at Globe Life Park.

The Rangers again in 2019 will be assisted by ParkHub is a parking technology solution provider focused on assisting sports and live entertainment venues in handling large volumes of traffic and getting guests out of line and into their seats faster. ParkHub is the first and only ProVenue Certified Solution parking platform. This means that fans have the option to pre-purchase parking through Tickets.com on-line or with their mobile devices. Where Tickets.com’s platform is a full service ticketing solution designed to sell tickets, ParkHub validates those tickets sold.

In addition to real-time validation of pre-purchase parking, ParkHub also gives Rangers’ fans the option to purchase on-site parking through Prime, their mobile point-of-sale. Fans can simply hand over their credit card or NFC device (Apple/Android Pay) to the parking attendant who will process the payment through the same device that scans their season ticket holders’ pass. In less than five seconds a receipt is printed, placed on their dashboards, and fans are on their way.

UBER begins its fourth year as the Official Rideshare Partner of the Texas Rangers. The Uber Pick Up and Drop Off area for 2019 is again the Camry Lot D where signage will be posted.

NOTE: New for 2019, the Texas Rangers will no longer accept print-at-home PDF tickets or parking. If your tickets and parking are not printed on Rangers ticket stock, you may use an electronic version of your tickets and parking on your mobile device. Apple and Android users may utilize the MLB Ballpark app. or any smart phone user may login to their My Rangers ticket account to access their electronic tickets and parking. This includes tickets forwarded to another party. For additional information, please visit texasrangers.com/digital

CHANGES TO 2019 PROMOTION SCHEDULE

Please note the following changes to the 2019 Texas Rangers promotions schedule:
Saturday, May 4—Coca-Cola/Kroger “The Catch” Gary Matthews, Jr. Bobblehead (1st 15,000)—moved from May 3
Thursday, May 30—T-Mobile Fireworks—moved from May 31
Friday, May 31—Koe Wetzel Postgame Concert, presented by Budweiser—moved from May 4
Saturday, September 14—Aaron Lewis Postgame Concert cancelled