The Texas Rangers open the 2018 regular season on Thursday, March 29 versus the defending World Series champion Houston Astros at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers' 47th opener in Arlington will begin at 2:40 p.m.
 
Thursday's season opener is the first of a four-game series with the Astros to begin the 2018 regular season. It also marks the beginning of the 2018 Silver Boot Series presented by The Texas Lottery with Houston.
 
Information for the season opener:
 
TICKET AVAILABILITY: All reserved seats have been sold for the 2018 home opener except for scattered singles and obstructed view seats. Standing room tickets are also available. Tickets can be purchased at texasrangers.com, by calling 972-RANGERS and at the Globe Life Park in Arlington first base box office.
 
PARKING: With the construction of the new Globe Life Field underway, fans should be aware of the following information for the upcoming season:
Reserved Parking Spaces (Lots E, J, & L)
Parking for Reserved Lots will be the same as prior seasons. However, access to Lot J along Randol Mill Road has moved further east and will be through the J2 entrance. 
Season Parking Passes (Lots B, C, D, and portions of Lots J & 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 be available only for season parking in 2018.
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 2018
Advanced Purchase General Parking: $18.00
General Parking: $20.00
Advanced Purchase General Park for any game can be purchased by going to texasrangers.com/parking. Regular season parking entrances are reserved for season parking holders for up to 30 minutes prior to game time.
 
The Rangers again in 2018 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 third year as the Official Rideshare Partner of the Texas Rangers. The Uber Pick Up and Drop Off area for 2018 is again the Camry Lot D where signage will be posted.
 
CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCH: Youth baseball and softball in North Texas celebrated an historic milestone last December with the official ribbon-cutting of the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex presented by Toyota in West Dallas. The Rangers, Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and Dallas-based Mercy St. partnered to build the new state-of-the-art facility, which provides free (or reduced cost) and year-round opportunities for North Texas youth, on a 17-acre site that includes five outdoor fields and the indoor Globe Life Training Center.
 
In recognition of the opening of the Academy and youth baseball and softball in North Texas, two youngsters who are participating in programs at the new facility will throw out the ceremonial first pitches for the season opener. Ten-year-old Audrey Robledo from the Golden Rule Charter School in Dallas has been playing softball and baseball for several years. 13-year-old Benjamin King from Harry Stone Montessori Academy in Dallas plays in the Lancaster RBI program.
 
COMMISSIONER MANFRED TO PARTICIPATE IN FIRST PITCH CEREMONY: Audrey and Benjamin will be escorted to the mound for the first pitch ceremony by Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, who is attending Thursday's game. Commissioner Manfred has been instrumental in creating additional initiatives to promote and grow youth baseball and softball participation including the building of additional MLB Youth Academies.
 
NATIONAL ANTHEM: The Star Spangled Banner will be sung by Texas country singer-songwriter Kyle Park. The Austin native writes and produces his own music while performing more than 175 shows per year with his band. The National Anthem will be preceded by a live performance of Texas, Our Texas by Joel Lagrone. Park will also sing God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch.
 
FLYOVER: Following the National Anthem, there will be a flyover of planes from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, Texas.
 
SALUTE THE FLAG: The colors will be presented by the Sheppard Air Force Color Guard from Wichita Falls, Texas. A large United States flag will be unfurled in centerfield by U.S. Air Force service members from Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX; Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX; the USAF 344th Recruiting Squadron in Arlington, TX; and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, TX.
 
MORE ACTIVITIES: In addition to the introductions of the Astros and Rangers, members of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame will also be introduced pre-game on-field. All 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 9:30 a.m. and ballpark gates will open at 11:30 a.m. for the home opener. The Rangers encourage fans to arrive early on Thursday. 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 22-24 overall in season openers, losing 4 of the last 5 including an 8-5 defeat to Cleveland in 2017. This is the just the second time Texas has played Houston in the season's opening game, suffering an 8-2 loss at Minute Maid Park in MLB's season opener in 2013, the Astros' first game as a member of the American League. The Rangers are 24-22 in home openers, winning 6 of the last 9 but dropping 3 of 4. Texas dropped its home opener in 2015 to Houston, 5-1. This marks the 27th time in 47 years that the Rangers have opened a season in Arlington.
 
EARLIEST OPENER: A March 29 opener would mark the earliest that Texas has ever begun the regular season. It will be the sixth time that the Rangers have opened a season in March: March 30 in 2003 and March 31 in 1998, 2008, 2013, and 2014.
 
PLAYING THE WORLD CHAMPS: 2018 will be the fourth time that the Rangers have opened a season against the defending World Series champions: 1974 vs. Oakland (L) and 1978 against the New York Yankees (W) at Arlington Stadium and 2003 at Anaheim (W).
 
ELVIS BACK IN THE BUILDING: Elvis Andrus is scheduled to start his 10th consecutive season opener at shortstop on Thursday. He would become just the fourth Ranger to ever be in the starting lineup for as many as 10 openers: 11 -- Ivan Rodriguez (1992-2002) and Michael Young (2002-12); 10 -- Rafael Palmeiro (1989-93; 1999-2003).
 
NEW CONSTRUCTION OBSERVATION DECK: The Rangers have added an area on the upper right field concourse that overlooks the construction sites of Globe Life Field and Texas Live! The observation deck will provide 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.
 
KIDS OPENING NIGHT: The Rangers will host the Astros in the season's first night game on Friday, March 30 at 7:05 p.m. It will be Kids Opening Night with the first 7,500 youngsters, 13 and under, receiving a Denny's Rangers Players Calendar. Following the game, there will be Friday Fireworks presented by TXU Energy.
 
REST OF SERIES: The Rangers and Astros will play on Saturday, March 31 at 3:05 and Sunday, April 1 at 2:05. On Saturday, the first 15,000 fans entering Globe Life Park receive a TXU Energy Adrian Beltre Home Run Counter Bobblehead. April 1 is the season's first Blue Bell Ice Cream Sunday with $1.00 ice cream products for youngsters, 13 and under. Good seats remain for the final three games of the Astros series. 
 
Tickets for Rangers 2018 home games can be purchased at texasrangers.com, by calling 972RANGERS, or at the Globe Life Park in Arlington first base ticket office.