Despite ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, food vendors are looking forward to Spring Training

Food vendors ready to return to Spring Training games amid ongoing pandemic

2020 was a bad time for many food vendors, as the start of the COVID-19 pandemic cut Spring Training short, and almost put many out of business.

TEMPE, Ariz. - With Spring Training games starting this weekend across the Valley, Baseball is officially back, and this is a big deal for Baseball fans, as well as vendors who make sure the fans are well fed.

In 2020, the start of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cut short the Spring Training season, and close to half of the games were cancelled.

The pandemic nearly fried Ben Shumsky’s food truck business, World's Best Corn Dogs, as sales dried up and long lines melted away. Vendors like ben, who work Spring Training games, suddenly found themselves in a pickle with the start of the pandemic..

"It's the first thing that anything over 1,000 people or anything close to that," said Shumsky.

Diablo Stadium in Tempe, the spring home for the Angels, will allow somewhere in the ballpark of 1,500 into each game. There will be pod-style seating arrangements, and off-limits seats will be locked up with zip ties. In addition, masks are mandatory.

While there will be fewer mouths to feed, actual food trucks will be allowed inside the stadium.

"This year, we’re gonna do things different, and let food trucks in the left patio. We haven’t done that in the past so it’s almost an experiment anyway," said Tempe Diablo Stadium Manager Jerry Hall.

The first game at Tempe Diablo Stadium is scheduled for Mar. 1.

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