2013 Opening Day Was A Sell-Out
The Mets expect to make it 16 straight sold-out home openers when they start the 2014 season against the Nationals on Monday at Citi Field, the Mets told Newsday.
“The game will definitely sell out,” said Lou DePaoli, the Mets’ executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “We are pacing significantly ahead of last year. As of right now, there are roughly less than a thousand seats available. We’re going to be opening standing room only.
“Overall, our Opening Day sales are way ahead of what they were last year. You’ve got to think the fact that maybe people have been cooped up a little bit and want to get out, they’re excited to get back outside.”
The Mets announced a sellout of 41,053 last season when the Yankees opened at home on the same day. Selling out on Opening Day does not portend record crowds all season. However, the park was peppered with many pockets of empty seats
The Mets had their fifth consecutive losing season in 2013, finishing with a 74-88 record. Their attendance came in at 2,135,657 which was the team’s lowest home attendance since 1997 at Shea Stadium.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, the team’s average attendance last season was 26,366, ranking 13th out of 15 in the National League.
“We’re expecting attendance to go up slightly versus last year,” DePaoli said. “We are on pace to get to those numbers.”
The Mets are forever adding new promotions and employing several different marketing strategies all in an attempt to turn these attendance numbers around.
I sometimes wonder if they even understand that the only tried and true marketing strategy geared at increasing attendance still is, and always will be, winning.
Bringing 50 Cent or Air Supply to the park to sing a set of ten songs after you get your brains bashed in by the Braves or Marlins isn’t the answer.
A true 90 win season is.
Until that happens, an increasing number of fans will continue to watch from home.
I don’t mean to be harsh, but that’s just the reality of the situation.
