The Tampa Bay Rays announced on Tuesday that their annual Pride Night, which is this Friday, June 17, will be dedicated to the victims of the Orlando shooting.
All remaining tickets for Friday’s game are available for $5. There will be a 50/50 raffle during Friday’s game. All proceeds from tickets and the 50/50 raffle will go to the Pulse Victims Fund, which was set up by the victims' families, according to MLB.com. Donation centers will be located throughout Tropicana Field for people to donate. All fans in attendance will receive a “We are Orlando” t-shirt.
"We really think this is an opportunity to show baseball's ability to bring a community together, unite us all in support, and this is a chance for the Rays to show our support to all of those in Orlando, as well as the greater LGBT community," Rays president Brian Auld said, "This Friday, we're really hoping to get [our fans] out to the ballpark to make a real visible statement. We think it's a great chance for us all to come together, to heal a little bit, to stand united and show what Rays fans are all about and what this greater marketplace is all about."
On June 12 Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people at Pulse Orlando, a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was shot and killed by police and 53 people were wounded in the worst mass shooting in the U.S. Anderson Cooper, Adele, and other celebrities have paid tribute to Orlando since the shooting happened.
Before Friday’s game there will be a moment of silence and a prerecorded message from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. The names of the victims will appear on the video board before the game. The Rays are 29-32 and are in last place in the AL East.