Attendance Record

[Gwreck]

Lost in all of the celebration was a very brief note that flashed on the scoreboard in the late innings:

The Mets set the all-time franchise attendance record this season.

[Guest vtmet]

A record that will be almost mathematically impossible to break in the new ballpark...

[Guest vtmet]

anyone know what their attendence is at on the year? The ESPN attendence page hasn't been updated in a few games, it still shows that the Mets have only played 71 games at home, although we have played 74 home games according to ESPN's standings...

[Gwreck]

ESPN number + numbers from last 3 box scores = 3,230,215.

I'm guessing the record breaking number includes tickets already sold to the remaining 7 home games though.

[Willets Point]

Is attendance based on ticket sales or actual people through turnstiles? I recall that (at least at one time) the two leagues actually measured attendance differently.

[Gwreck]

For a while the NL measured people through turnstiles only, although that changed a while ago (I want to say 10-12 years ago). Now both leagues measure paid tickets.

[Willets Point]

What about comp tickets then? How are those tabulated?

[Gwreck]

Good question. My best guess is that "paid attendance" is actually a misnomer and the announced attendance figures incldue all tickets issued to the game, whether paid or issued complimentarily.

[metirish]

From Newsday.

] Turnstiles have a good year, too September 20, 2006 When Josh Willingham's lazy fly ball dropped into Cliff Floyd's glove in leftfield Monday night, ending the Mets' 18-year division title drought, the ecstatic crowd of 46,729 at Shea Stadium fittingly set an all-time season attendance record. The team has sold 3,087,648 tickets at home this season. "Winning is the ultimate attraction but I do think New York is attracted to this team because of its composition," said Dave Howard, the Mets' executive vice president for business operations. "You have the fact that this is a diverse team ethnically. It's diverse in terms of age. You have veterans. You've got young and up-and-coming players. It's a team that has played a scrappy, resilient brand of baseball that New Yorkers are attracted to."

[MFS62]

Whether or not they will break the record can depend on how strictly the fire laws are enforced.
Old Yankee Stadium (before rennovation) had a listed seating capacity of 67,000 but they often crammed as many as 73,000 in there.
And the capacity at old Municipal Stadium (Cleveland) had a listed capacity of (IIRC) 70,000 yet they often drew as many as 80,000 for games in their hey day.

And even with a seating capacity of 45,000 at the new Mets ballpark, a full house every night would break this year's attendance figures with 3.6+ million.

Later