18
2011
Sagging Home Attendance Adds To Mets Woes
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Mets attendance at Citi Field continues to drop and according to a report in the NY Post they are about to fall to 14th place in in baseball’s average attendance standings.
The Mets, already suffering from an 8 percent decline in home attendance, an out of contention ballclub and owners who expect to lose about $60 million this season, are about to suffer yet another indignity — they are about to drop into 14th place in baseball’s average attendance standings. Detroit Tigers are about to race right by them.
The Mets haven’t been this ranked this since 2004, the year before Omar Minaya was tapped as GM. Their average attendance this season is 30,891 – a very low figure for a new ballpark, especially one in the largest baseball market in the world.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Hey, Tampons,
PLEASE SELL!!!
Is anyone really surprised by this? A combination of inept, incompetent owners along with a haphazard approach to building a succesful, long term contender can equal nothing but disaster. Years of trying to cover up a poor player development system by trying to spend their way to success on the free agent market have left a proud fan base, shall we say, disenfranchised. Every time holes pop up in the Major League team the Wilpon’s patented approach has been to throw money around to either mediocre or overpriced free agents in order to “patch” up the holes. What they should have been doing was realizing their approach was flawed, that their minor league system was not providing the depth that true contenders all have (Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Yankees).
Mets fans are not stupid, quite the opposite, we know when something isn’t working and when things need to change unlike team ownership. Besides pure love of baseball (which is of course a very legitimate reason) why would die hard Mets fans spend hundreds of hard earned dollars to watch a mediocre team take the field? Outside of taking your kid to see a Major League game for the pure joy of family time, why should the fans bother to show up? Hiring a new front office to lead the ON Field team in a new direction is a good first step. The next step is for the Wilpons to sell the team and take their financial woes elsewhere and stop dragging the Mets through the mud with them.
What a shock! A team that is 3 games out of last place and is 20 games out of first place has “sagging home attendance.” This team is 208 – 238 since opening day 2009, following their 2 (yes, 2!) epic September collapses. They are seriously close to losing their best player this offseason (Reyes) to free agency…and their other “franchise” player (Wright) is in the middle of his 3rd straight season of decline (at the ripe old age of 28). As for their pitching, well, what pitching…their best pitcher is Dillon, who has an ERA near 4 and has 6.0 K/9 IP and 3.7 BB/9 IP….and is the major league leader in hit batters with 12.
instead of complaining of sagging attendance…this horribly owned organization should be happy that there are still a few people who are willing to shell out their hard-earned money to watch the circus.
Just imagine how the attendance will be next season if/when Reyes is playing shortstop somewhere else.
is this news?? being at the stadium 3 times this year i can honestly say, i was surprised how less people go to the games, add the fact the mets play like s*** at home anyways, but when your front office tells the fan “wait till 2014″ this is what’s expected, no fan will go, and if they go is because they have to.. also, the stadium was so POORLY constructed by this idiots, is humongous!!! you’d think the mets build a stadium around their best players, and their best players were offensive players, but no, they build something comical of a stadium, is a shame players like bay, wright and others have let citi field get to them, but frankly is understandable, idk what they were drinking before drawing up the stadium dimensions.. also, good luck in 2012, 2013 getting fans in attendance, having no all star tune the fans out.. and it seems things will get even uglier for the next few years..
i know,do they actually expect to wait around till these prospects turn into all-stars. how is that not a crap shoot? to me that’s a bigger risk than paying for free agents. it seems really risky putting all our eggs in one basket like that.what happens when nobody is left on this team,there will nobdy at that overpriced homage to the dodgers that is shiti field.a small market team in new york what a joke.hopefully the wilpons will just sell.
Ya, big market teams that spend the most in NL to finish 4th are way better.
And no, rebuilding the farm is not “putting all our eggs in one basket”. It is, in fact, the exact opposite. It allows the Mets to have multiple options at each position, if done right.
Free agency marries you to one player for several years at the cost of big money and possibly draft picks.
The question is with them being so far out of it now and having to play meaningless games in August & September, how much lower will it get.
Spring training 2012 is less than 6 months away!
I think in response to the firsts 2 posters the sagging attendance has more to do with injured players and putting out a depleted roster more than anything the owners have done. I’m not thinking about the Wilpons when i go to a game.
The last time we’ve had a healthy lineup was the first month in 2009.
That may have something to do with it. It wears on people, and now we have a small market minded GM and that may be turning people off too (as much as some may want to deny it)
So, you’re not thinking about the owners, who have well publicized financial troubles that may be affecting the team, but you are thinking about the GM?
Oh my goodness, what a boneheaded statement!
So any old ownership would have put us in this position?
The injuries are all a matter of bad luck?
The way (SH)iti Field was conceived doesn’t give you pause to “think about the owners”???!!!
yeah the way Citi Field is constructed was very ill conceived but that’s not the topic of this post, maybe another one.
Sure, The Wilpons are responsible for the injuries this team has had since early 2009.
I tend to think I would’ve been better able to evaluate the situation if this was a healthy Mets team the last 3 years, were in 3 pennant races the last 3 years and all of that.
But we never got a chance to evaluate them based on that because the bulk of this team has been injured the last 3 seasons. But if the Mets were healthy the last 3 years and contended the last 3 years sure you may still hate the Wilpons and they may still be in financial ruin but their story would’ve taken a back seat to the Mets play on the field. But that never happened.
I think you’re more of a bonehead and actually your take on the situation indicates a mentally challenged beer can tossing angry fan in a stained t-shirt with a one dimensional observation
My t-shirts are always clean.
Hey HJMJ – got a link for this one? Thx
No Coop, this was from the email Joe forwards us from the Mets each morning. Sometimes I read through it to see what articles they highlight and I was surprised to see this.
I didn’t know Joe did this – what articles/papers do you get each morning?
Oh please folks!!!
So far there are 5 or 6 different THEORIES on who or what to blame the lack of attendance on…
You wanna see who is the CAUSE and the most at fault for the attendance and Money losing issues?
Here is what you do….
Go into your bathroom as if your going to wash your hands….
THEN LOOK UP!
What or WHO do you see?
I see most of the Mets – and other teams – games on TV.
I have been quite surprised that almost no team fills their stadium anymore. Even the mighty Yankees have empty seats – for most games, some of those seats being right behind home plate. Other teams have empty upper decks and have the fans move down a bit lower so it looks better on TV.
However, there are two teams whose stadiums are always full – the Cubs at Wrigley and The Red Sox at Fenway. What does this tell you?
Two things at play there Annie…
#1 – In NYC – MOST of the BEST seats are owned by corporations not people. They are used to entertain clients and people they do business with. And more often than not no one ever uses those tickets. These seats are usually in the front leaving the seats further back for regular (average fan) season ticket holders. Since those seats are in the front you see those empty seats in almost every camera angle but when they tilt up to show the upper levels you will see far more fannies in the seats. Yankees in fact it’s probably the SAME companies who bought similarly placed seats from the Mets! Rarely are the regular Joes who work at these companies allowed to use the Tickets!
Boston and Chicago are very different places. Not many corporations have their headquarters in those cities, A few but only a handful compared to NY.
#2 – The Economy sucks! Most people can’t afford the parking the food and the time off to go see a game. Especially not when the team is not in contention. Cubs have a very small park and Boston is not a big seater either. Boston is also a ONE TEAM TOWN! It helps trust me!
That said I do think the Fans who are concerned about the Met money situation should stop looking for excuses and pointing fingers at them and fess up to the truth.
WE DON’T GO to enough games!
We watch on TV, We even buy stuff (though not at the stadium) and we follow intently.
But we do not put money into filling those seats and THAT is why the team is losing money, Not Mismanagement, Not overpriced FAs, WE are the reason they are losing money, Cause we aren’t spending it on them!
But Mitt Romney just said “Corporations are people, too, my friend.”
Chicago not home to too many corporations? Scratchin’ my head over that one.
How many corporations have their headquarters in Chicago…
How many have them in NY?
Lot of business done in Chicago and yes they have a presence…
But the HQ is in NY for the Majority of the companies that do business there…
About 100, including the rinky-dink ones, such as Boeing, McDonald’s, United Airlines and Wrigley.
Obviously, NY has the most…
At any rate, even attendance at Wrigley is down significantly this season.
The fact that the games always sell well despite the Cubs sucking owes mainly to the fact that the stadium is in the heart of it all on Chicago’s north side.
Rabid fans? The Cubs may have rabid fans, but the folk who buy seats at Wrigley, including the small potatoes corporate contingent, also include thousands of tourists who are there for the atmosphere, not the game.
Now Red Sox fans who show up at Fenway…those are rabid fans.
As a franchise, I rather think the BoSox have put many more competitive teams on the field in the past 35 years than the North Side’s Lovable Losers.
“Now Red Sox fans who show up at Fenway…those are rabid fans.”
Yep cause what is their alternative Baseball team to root for if not the Sox?
Not sure on how the crow flies but I think the next closest baseball team to Boston after the Sox is the Yankees!!!!
Boston is a one team town for Baseball, Basketball, Football even Hockey!
Of course their Fans are going to be Rabid, They don’t have the Yankees or White Sox to contend with or share the city with.
You want to go see a baseball game in Boston it’s either the RedSox or some minor league, college, or little league team!
If your TV only gets one channel than that channel is going to have great ratings!
If you know what I mean.
This is a very good point. Red Sox fill out their stadium, but they have something like 35K seats to fill plus a very good team. They sell out every game, and I challenge anyone to find a ticket less than $30/seat for a game. The Cubs, admittedly not good, have a rabid fan base. But they have also an allure of Fenway as well – the oldest stadiums in the majors, and baseball fans (not necessarily Sox or Cubs fans) go to these games. CitiField lost its lustre in 2009 quickly not just b/c they were not healthy but the novelty wore off at the same time. No one really wanted to pay $100/seat in excelsior just to get club access – the problem w/ lowering the number of seats available also raises prices. Yankee Stadium wasn’t even selling out their seats behind HP during the PLAYOFFS and had people notoriously leaving early during the games they were losing. Etc etc. Annie here raises a good point – regardless of how mediocre or good or whatever a team is, if the novelty has worn off, people no longer go to games, the season ticket holder base is less inclined to buy tickets b/c they realistically won’t make every game, and won’t resale for face…and more people with families are staying home, watching in comforts of living room on HDTV and just relaxing. Perhaps part of it’s priorities – other parts are that the novelty is gone. Still is a good question to raise.
Silly article. Why is it necessary to keep fretting over the fact that the Wilpon’s and their partners have made the decision to rehabilitate their finances instead of fielding a competitive team. Some of us recognized that this decision had been made way back in early December 2010. Of course people on this board called me stupid, ignorant, wrong…etc etc. I said it will take 3-5yrs for the Wilpon’s to get their finances back in order that means for us fans 3-5yrs of non-competitive play under the guise of “rebuilding.”
We have Rony Paulino(1.3 million a yr) instead of- Russell Martin(4 million a year)
We have Justin Turner(500,00 a yr) instead of Dan Uggla (14 million a year)
Hunter Pence was available and we did nothing to get him??? Does that make sense?
Wouldn’t Pence been a great replacement for Beltran in RF? The Astors wouldn’t have taken say, Wilmer Flores, Josh Tholes etc for Pence? Really?
There were pitchers we choose not to sign instead we singed 3rd tier pitchers.
Why didn’t we go after Russell Martin?
Why wouldn’t we trade for Dan Uggla to use him as a stop gag to replace Beltran’s
offensive production or Reese Havens is ready?
Attendance is down because fans ask themselves questions such as these and then say to themselves. “Why would shell out money to see a game when ownership isn’t really making an effort and the Mets aren’t winning?”
Th
“Wouldn’t Pence been a great replacement for Beltran in RF? The Astors wouldn’t have taken say, Wilmer Flores, Josh Tholes etc for Pence? Really?”
Yes, really. Ed Wade has made some bad deals, but you’re still asking a lot.
“There were pitchers we choose not to sign instead we singed 3rd tier pitchers.”
I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not referring to Cliff Lee, which means you’re trying to tell me Jason Marquis and Kevin Millwood would have saved the season.
“Why didn’t we go after Russell Martin?” We’d have to go over $4 million for a guy with declining production just coming off labrum surgery. And at best would have been platooning with Thole.
“Why wouldn’t we trade for Dan Uggla to use him as a stop gag to replace Beltran’s
offensive production or Reese Havens is ready?”
Because Uggla is making $13 million a year until 2015. And there is a concern over his ability to hit in Citi Field.
There is a logical explanation for this. When Bernie M went to the bighouse he had to give up his seats at Citi.
Is this really a surprise? Mets management antagonized its fan base by raising ticket prices 20% the last year at Shea Stadium… a year BEFORE Citi Field opened up. Then, part time season ticket holders were kicked out of good, long time seats and offered lousy locations and poor dates that The Mets had control over. You couldn’t be more abusive to your fan base if you tried. I guess they all thought we were like the yokels in other cities who filled their new ballparks for years. As for me, I go less to Mets games in New York and now travel down to Philly and DC to see the team. It has much better value for me… and the Wilpon’s get less of my money.
Build a underwhelming stadium, charge outrageous prices, and the team doesn’t win- does a sagging attendance surprise anyone? I really miss Shea… a stadium that actually made sense.
Mets Man – I miss Shea, too.
Really? What do you miss about Shea?
That it truly was a baseball stadium, not an outdoor shopping mall/amusement park.
Shea was a concrete doughnut multi-purpose entertainment facility. It had horrible sight lines, uncomfortable seating and several hazards.
Citi Field is actually great for watching a baseball game. Yes, there are a lot of goofy distractions, but they don’t take away from the person who is there to focus on the game.
Can I offer a different premise here. Baseball enthusiasm amongst the public is dwidndling while football and basketball are taking over the professional sports scene for a number of reasons. I’ll offer a few. Disposable income is very tight and with the price of football and basketball tickets , baseball takes a back seat, too many games diluted the product. With a 162 games season you can “go anytime”, the game of baseball is a cerebral game whick makes it move slower as each pitch is analyzed, the game goes too slow with pitchers stepping off more times than they actually pitch, and in today’s fast paced society with instant games and gratification on tablet pc’s and 4g phones, the younger generation just doesn’t have the patience to study, learn and appreciate this great game and love it like us “oldtimers” do. I hate to admit it but it is a dying sport. the schedukle needs to shrink, teams contracted, umpiring needs to be revamped as it is downright awful now and more Afican-Americans recruited into the sport. We play baseball into October and games cancelled due to snow-ugh!
Watch a Phillie game and you don’t see one empty seat.To me, it’s very simple.Make the playoffs a few years in a row and people show up.The Wilpons have destroyed the brand with an overpriced stadium built to honor the brooklyn dodgers, overpriced parking and food, absurd dimensions that make most games a snorefest and my personal favorite “tier pricing”.Follow the Phillies business model of a $75 top seat price, no tier pricing, cut parking in half, let everyone have access to the clubs and win some ballgames and the place will be full.We can dream, right?
Philly is a one team town and draws fans from PA. and New Jersey. Gotham is a two team town and I hate to say this but the Bombers have been the Top Dog in the city even with the glory of the Giants and Dodgers. Winning would fill the seats but maybe not to capacity. Dare I say it but maybe, just maybe the METS don’t belong and in this time in baseball history the METS are an obsolete team and needs to be contracted along with other major league teams that draw poorly. Of couse winning like in Philly will put more fannies in the seats. What I just said maybe is unimaginable, but may be reality. How long can you lose 60 mil a year?
60 million in one year, bad judgement, management, not putting a decent team on the field, i mean.. i can go on and on metfn lou, but it’ll take a whole article to describe what’s going on with the new york mets, quickest way to solve the problem, have MLB force the wilpons to sell the franchiZe
Alex you are right on every point but please consider this. New York continues to lose population according to the last censue. Migration into the NYC area is predominantly African, Pakistani, Indian, and immigrants from the Middle East and other countries. This is not a criticism of immigrants BUT these newly arrived residents ARE NOT baseball fans. Our fan base is dwindling and dying off and that is why I made the comments I did. Very few people come to this realization that in 10 years maybe the Yankees will be the only MLB team viable in the city. Think about it.
fair enough, or it can also be the fact that go to citi field turns out to be a very expensive experience for some ppl, and why would you wanna pay high amount of $ to see crap on the field?? as much as i like this mets let’s be honest, nobody will pay top dollars to see tejada and co yet?? not happening!
And I think we both make excellent points, yours from a position of the need for “baseball excellence” and me from a “social commentary” point of view. We will not know who is correct until 2021 but I suspect we are both right in oue own way. Good discussion.
my pleasure lou.. i tell you i went to 2 consecutive games, had i known how much money i was going to spent in there, i would’ve gone on vacation, trust me, is a lot of money for one person to go, imagine when you take your whole family..
Absolutely right. I live 100 miles south of Atlanta and when we go to a Braves game it is expensive too, however if you take a family of four to a movie you can drop a hundred or close to it.In fact you can drop a hundred easy for two folks at an upscale restaurant (no thank you) so I guess it has to be put in perspective but I will admit they should have maybe a 10 percent discount when Big Pelf is scheduled to go.