Fans packed American Family Field Thursday to kick off the Milwaukee Brewers home season and the team responded with a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Check out the attached slideshow to see photos from inside and outside the stadium and to see some of the business and community leaders who were part of the sellout crowd.
The Brewers home opener looked a little different in 2021, which include more subdued excitement with 25% capacity and masked up fans and employees. While it was certainly an upgrade from the piped-in fan noise and cardboard cutouts of 2020, it was not the same traditional Milwaukee celebration.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said fans "haven't gotten the full experience," one he recalls fondly growing up in Milwaukee and calling Opening Day "a holiday in our household." Mid-40s temperatures and high wind warnings Thursday kept the American Family Field roof closed, and fans strapping down tailgate coolers and tables prior to the game.
The home opener attendance was 42,794, a sellout crowd, a vast improvement from the 11,740 at the home opener in 2021.
Celebrating the unofficial Milwaukee holiday of April 14, honoring the city's 414 area code, the game's start time was moved to 4:14 p.m. for the first time in team's history.
Fans at American Family Field also experienced enhanced hospitality options.
The Brewers opened the new Cream City Cocktail bar on the loge level, which Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger called a "good companion" to the craft beer bar on the same level. Burgers, brats and chicken sandwiches also got a facelift thanks to a new partnership with Black Shoe Hospitality, which owns the local restaurants Blue's Egg, Story Hill BKC, Maxie's and Buttermint Finer Dining & Cocktails.
The Brewers formed several new partnerships to kick off the 2022 season, apparent through signage and the fan experience. These included relationships with UW Credit Union and Quartz Health Solutions, promoted on the scoreboard, and Coca-Cola, seen throughout the ballpark.
Business and community leaders at the game included Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Department of City Development commissioner Lafayette Crump, U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry, Omar Shaikh of 3rd Street Market Hall, Wes Shaver of Milwaukee Pride Inc., Milwaukee finance executive David Lubar, Marissa Warner of Sports Milwaukee, Milwaukee attorney David Gruber and Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas.