Some businesses and organizations follow Milwaukee's footsteps in dropping mask requirements

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It’s an exciting day for casino-goers, baseball fans and concert fanatics. A number of Milwaukee businesses and organizations followed in the city’s footsteps, also dropping mask requirements on Tuesday, June 1.

“I think it’s going to be fantastic, I really do, it’s about time,”  said Brewers fan David Smith.

It’s been a long time coming, thousands of vaccinated fans finally being able to be at a Brewers baseball game without a mask on. Brewers officials say all the steps they took to keep fans safe in the past are what landed them to where they are today.

“Last game I was here was in 2019 National League Championship Series and I mean no mask, no nothing, and COVID wasn’t a thing back then—so it just feels good to be back,” said Brewers fan Nolan Strang.

“They’ve gotten us to a point where we can do this safely, we’re very confident in that. The fan response was very much in favor of not requiring masks for fully vaccinated fans anymore,” says Tyler Barnes, senior vice president of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Some entertainment and concert venues are also following the city’s lead in no longer requiring masks for those fully vaccinated.

“With the city lifting their mask mandate, we took a long look at how we were going to handle that and we decided to follow in their footsteps,” said Ryan Amundson, public relations manager at Potawatomi Hotel and Casino.

Along with no longer making masks mandatory, Potawatomi Hotel and Casino also opened all their slot machines, giving guests a small taste of what life was like before the pandemic.

“It brings a level of comfort, it brings a level of normalcy back to operations here, but we still have a long way to go,” adds Amundson.

With the mask mandate and restrictions lifted in the city, Pabst Theater Group is seeing concert ticket sales soar.

“We’ve had tremendous sales on the shows that we’ve put up,” said Gary Witt, CEO of Pabst Theater Group.

Independent venues were one of the hardest hit during the pandemic.

“You know we’re happy to be able to open up again,” said Witt. “We paid a tremendous price in being closed.”

“The summer is starting to look pretty normal, we’re excited about that,” Barnes says.

The Brewers say making masks optional is just one of their milestones in returning to normalcy. The next step is to open up to full capacity, which they say will happen Friday, June 25.