EDIT 3/5/24 – this is accurate and confirmed. the decision, we’re told, was a security thing and not some mandate from the Phils or MLB

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A Phillies gameday staffer posted over the weekend that the CBP bag policy is changing, noting, in part:

“changes to bag policy. Pay attention to the sizes. No more drawstring or non-clear totes including “Wawa-like” bags”

Where will we put our BOGO hot dogs now?

The account later went private, but an image was shared, one that matches what’s on the official team website: 


Couple of thoughts:

  1. when we went in through the facial recognition lines last year, I don’t think they checked any bags at all
  2. the drawstring backpack was the go-to ballpark move. didn’t they give those out recently? it feels like that’s the go-to giveaway every time a sports team does any kind of event at all, like some random 5k or bar appearance anywhere in the region

If I recall correctly, when the Eagles and Union made bag policy changes in recent years, they sent to season ticket holders a bag that was compliant with the new rules. That helped avoid confusion, like “just use the one we sent you, this is approved.” It’s somewhat paradoxical that most of the bags the Phils have given away in recent years are now banned from the stadium, right? The general annoyance I sense from fans is that the policy keeps changing. That’s bothersome, to have to adjust to that with any kind of frequency.

Consider this a major bag alert: