We are just about one month away from Opening Day at the new Globe Life Field.

The MLB’s next best thing is right down highway 45 from the MLB’s latest worst thing. Yeah, I went there – sorry, not sorry, Astros fans. It’s certainly a very exciting time to be a Rangers fan.

Sure, the first game (doesn’t count) will be a Spring Training exhibition on March 23, 2020, against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the first regular-season game (does count) comes a week later on March 31 when the Los Angeles Angels come to town. 

Construction on the stadium is officially on its final lap as it is just over 95 percent complete. The structural arches are up, the concrete has been poured for all seven levels of seating and the overly-popular roof is ready to be retracted, even with the fire that set it back just a bit. The artificial turf is lined out, the squeaky-clean, yellow foul poles are standing and just about all of the Texas Rangers and Globe Life branding is all mounted.

Last year, our editor Dylan Duell, discussed why and how Globe Life Park isn’t perfect. The Park needs its savior and will be in the form of the Field right across the street. Now, let’s slide right into the facts, stats and everything else you need or may want to know about the all-new Globe Life Field.

Globe Life Field has come a long way since its September 28, 2017 groundbreaking. The $1.2 billion dollar project covers 13 acres equaling 1.7 million square feet and will involve more than 5,000 workers by the time of its completion. 1.3 million cubic yards of dirt were removed from the site through excavation and 35,000 tons of steel will be used to complete the ballpark. 16,000 tons of that steel was used for the bowl and 19,000 tons for the roof. 

The retractable roof covers 240,000 square feet and utilizes 120 wheels that are each 42 inches in diameter. Globe Life Field’s roof stands at 230 feet from the field which happens to be more than twice as tall as the XFL stadium (weird, I know) across the street. However, next door to GLF, AT&T stadium still wins with a staggering 320-foot tall roof.

Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a plastic polymer designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. This product is highly transparent, very lightweight and in modern architecture is used to replace glass walls or roofs in long-span conditions. ETFE will be used all throughout Globe Life Field (120,900 square-feet worth) whether on the walls or in the roof to enhance more natural light giving the outdoor feeling. Even though we all know we now get to enjoy July and August Rangers games in the air conditioning. 

Speaking of comfort, the chairs will be two inches wider, or 11 percent bigger, than the ones at Globe Life Park – this just might be my favorite part. One of the reasons this was made possible was due to the number of total seats in the stadium, 40,000. That is a decrease in total capacity from GLP, which may not intrigue many people, but refer back to Dylan’s article on why the organization may have gone that route. 

GLF will have two more levels of seating with seven total and two extra premium clubs completing six in all. The upper concourse sits 23 feet closer to the field than at GLP, so there may not be a single bad seat in this new stadium. There will be two video boards within the stadium. The main one is 58 feet tall and 150 feet wide which is 72 percent larger than the main video board sitting in GLP. The second video board is 40 feet tall by 120 feet wide which is 50 percent larger than the one we were viewing at GLP. Sounds like they are going to be spoiling us at the new ballpark.

A special thank you and shout out to all of the construction workers who have taken part in this massive project. Since ground-breaking, there has been an average number of 1,500 workers a day, putting in an average of 16-18 hours each of those days. If you know or ever see one of them, be sure to shake his/her hand and say thank you. There is a beautiful piece of architecture awaiting our yells, claps, laughs and tears. 

If you aren’t already, be sure to follow Globe Life Field (@globelifefield) on social media to keep up-to-date with all things about the new stadium. Especially on Instagram where you can find videos, facts, statistics, photo renderings and any updates that may occur up until Opening Day.

The final stretch is here Ranger fans. Go get your tickets, family and friends – I’ll see you in the cheap seats with peanuts, Cracker Jacks and back free of sweat.