Mets attendance

[Edgy MD]

Win, loss, loss, win
How many times will the turnstile spin?

[metirish]

it's going to be a disaster , under 2 million.

[Fman99]

No way, they'll draw well over 3 million, they're going to win the FUCKING PENNANT DON'T YOU KNOW.

[Edgy MD]

metirish wrote: it's going to be a disaster , under 2 million.

I'm impressed by your commitment. Haven't finished under two since 1997.

[metsmarathon]

i believe the actual gate attendance last year certainly well below two million, but what is reported is ticket sales.

i think this year, they'll have trouble giving away season tickets, and if the mets struggle, there'll be no game-day ticket sales either.

hell, even if they win the pennant, i don't think they'd hit 3 million. i think the attendance will be so low in the beginning of the season that it'd take half a season of league-leading ball to even begin to fill the house (with mets fans).

[Edgy MD]

Well, there typically isn't much attendance until mid-May anyhow. So the difference between drawing 13 vs. 18 in the early part of the season isn't as important as drawing 22 vs. 40 mid-summer. So a good start could help.

One relevant factor, I imagine, is the administrative staff layoffs. Some of those folks, I assume, were marketing and sales.

[nymr83]

I can see them salvaging 2.1 with late season moves like "bring the kids 2 for 1" and the old $5 nights like they had at Shea. The team is going to be BAAAAD and they'll soon realize that lower ticket prices and a prayer for concessions revenue may be their best bet.

[Edgy MD]

Well, they've already lowered ticket prices.

[nymr83]

Edgy DC wrote: Well, they've already lowered ticket prices.

But when the losing comences people wont see last year as a baseline when looking for a bargain, I think the team will have to lower them beyond their listed prices at the beginning of this year.

[Ceetar]

It's so hard to tell because it's so results driven. They're presumably healthy so a hot start from Ike and Duda especially coupled with Santana staying on the field could lead to April excitement and prompt an attendance drive. (There's also the idea that 2013 renewals get dibs on the All-Star Game, and you know they're going to hype that very fact in the 'buy the rest of September' marketing drive.

Except they lost Reyes. And that's going to be a big blow, both in the chances they win as many games and in the convincing anyone to go see a middle of the pack type team, if it even turns out to be that. If Reyes was here I feel like they're so far removed now from the collapses and disaster that the marginal improvement over last year with some excitement with some of the younger guys would've drawn interest. Now they'll be seeing as spiraling downwards with no hope in sight instead.

But who knows, maybe it works to the Mets advantage (just due to luck, something will one of these days..) They're going to be viewed as a 70 win last place disaster, so if they come out winning games and surprising people, the differential from expectation may turn into excitement.

So hey, I'm gonna say they're going to have a bounce back season, coupled with a fairly substantial step back from Philly and the possibility of a 5th playoff team (has that been determined?) gets them pushing 2.4ish.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

As Edge said, it's been a WHILE since ticket sales were sub-2 million, and all but ten teams topped it last year (Christ, the Marlins drew 1.5). Ticket prices are comparable to the movies, or beach pricing, or other summer family/date/group outing options. If the weather is nice, a day at the bargain-basement-tickets-priced-to-move ballpark makes for a nicer outing than a trip to see Elongated Man: The Movie or Saw 7: Murdering the Chicks From Those WB Shows in Increasingly Lurid/Creative Ways.

I'll go with 2.3ish announced.

[MFS62]

I think this team will be very watchable.
I'm not saying they'll be good, but it is an old sports adage that "offense puts fannies in the seats".
And I think the offense, especially with the moving in of the fences, will be worth watching.
The pitching may be worth cringing, but that's going to lead to a lot of exciting 6-5-type scoring games.
The heart of a lineup with Murphy, Wright, Davis, Bay and Duda will produce enough offense to keep the fans interested, and watching, until the young pitchers are ready to contribute.
I'm guessing 2.4 million.

Later

[nymr83]

As Edge said, it's been a WHILE since ticket sales were sub-2 million, and all but ten teams topped it last year (Christ, the Marlins drew 1.5). Ticket prices are comparable to the movies, or beach pricing, or other summer family/date/group outing options. If the weather is nice, a day at the bargain-basement-tickets-priced-to-move ballpark makes for a nicer outing than a trip to see Elongated Man: The Movie or Saw 7: Murdering the Chicks From Those WB Shows in Increasingly Lurid/Creative Ways. I'll go with 2.3ish announced.

The movies have a huge advantage all summer long: air-conditioning

[batmagadanleadoff]

The S&P weighs in:

S.&P. also described as �aggressive� Queens Ballpark�s preliminary projection that attendance will rise to 2.5 million in 2012 from 2.29 million last season. It said that attendance was likely to keep falling and that a third of its luxury suites are up for renewal in 2012.

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/s-p-outlook-on-citi-field-bonds-sours/

[Edgy MD]

That's what prompted this thread.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I have no idea what the attendance is going to be, but I would love to see it as close to zero as possible.

[Edgy MD]

The cut-off-the-Wilpons'-nose position gains a new adherent.

[dgwphotography]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I have no idea what the attendance is going to be, but I would love to see it as close to zero as possible.

This.

[metirish]

dgwphotography wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I have no idea what the attendance is going to be, but I would love to see it as close to zero as possible. This.

Yeah,I think it's going to take a combination of things to force the Wilpon's out and attendance is s big one.

[Edgy MD]

And a few more.

[TransMonk]

I went with 2.1 million. I'm also rooting for zero.

My wife says she wants to take a trip to New York this summer to, among other things, see a Mets game. I think I am going to veto the Mets game part in protest to the Wilpons. That's just me doing my little part.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

TransMonk wrote: I went with 2.1 million. I'm also rooting for zero. My wife says she wants to take a trip to New York this summer to, among other things, see a Mets game. I think I am going to veto the Mets game part in protest to the Wilpons. That's just me doing my little part.

If you don't want to put any money into their pockets directly, you can always avoid Stubhub and buy from a secondary market like eBay, or a friend of a friend; a bit of a cheat, but if your Monkier Half has never seen Citi (and likely won't for some time), it's livable, no?

I'm not 100 percent certain, but I'm leaning heavily towards not buying any tickets this year. (I'm pretty sure BetterHalfer will be okay with it.)

[Benjamin Grimm]

I may go once. (Which would be as many times as I went in 2010 and 2011.) I saw a few road games in 2010, in Baltimore and Puerto Rico. Maybe I'll satisfy my Mets fix in 2012 (if I have one) in DC.

[Edgy MD]

Good luck. But fan revolt pretty much never, ever works.

If the team fails, yeah, folks will stay away, as always.

If it somehow finds a way to prosper --- if only modestly --- you can still stay away on principle and send your message, but somebody else will be happy to grab your seat. Philadelphians and Washingtonians even. Bostonians and Baltimorans and Yankee fans who can't buy their way into the big house but need to feel the satisfaction of taking a heavily discounted shit in Queens.

And few extend their boycotts to cancelling their cable subscription because SNY is included as part of the package which means the Wilpons get their chump change anyhow. Ben Grimm is already getting shakey on his promise.

[Ceetar]

As Edge said, it's been a WHILE since ticket sales were sub-2 million, and all but ten teams topped it last year (Christ, the Marlins drew 1.5). Ticket prices are comparable to the movies, or beach pricing, or other summer family/date/group outing options. If the weather is nice, a day at the bargain-basement-tickets-priced-to-move ballpark makes for a nicer outing than a trip to see Elongated Man: The Movie or Saw 7: Murdering the Chicks From Those WB Shows in Increasingly Lurid/Creative Ways. I'll go with 2.3ish announced. The movies have a huge advantage all summer long: air-conditioning

You've got the Mets mid-summer marketing campaign all written. "Buy Delta or Ceasar Club tickets! It's Air Conditioned!"

Not rooting for 0. rooting for 0 is rooting for the Mets to fail. I'm not rooting for the Mets to fail. Especially when we don't know the color of the grass on the other side of the fence. It could be worse. I'd rather the Mets make a magical run and the Wilpons are solvent in 2013 then the Mets suck for 3-4 years and they're eventually forced to sell and it then takes even the most magical of owners 5 years to dig out of the dept and negative profit/revenue ratio it pushes them into.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy DC wrote: Ben Grimm is already getting shakey on his promise.

Well, I never made any kind of promise. I know that if I go once instead of twice, or nonce instead of once, it's not going to make any real difference.

I want the Mets attendance to be zero. If I go to one game with my kids, they can still potentially draw a total of 3 for the 2012 season, and I'd be quite happy with that.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Ben Grimm is already getting shakey on his promise. Well, I never made any kind of promise. I know that if I go once instead of twice, or nonce instead of once, it's not going to make any real difference. I want the Mets attendance to be zero. If I go to one game with my kids, they can still potentially draw a total of 3 for the 2012 season, and I'd be quite happy with that.

well, they probably all have like a 1.8 commitment.

[TransMonk]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: If you don't want to put any money into their pockets directly, you can always avoid Stubhub and buy from a secondary market like eBay, or a friend of a friend; a bit of a cheat, but if your Monkier Half has never seen Citi (and likely won't for some time), it's livable, no?

We got to Citi in 2010, so we've both experienced it. Monkier Half actually loves the ballpark. It would be hard to make a trip to New York in the summer and not sneak in a Mets game. The last few times I've gone on pleasure trips to NYC, the trips have revolved around Mets games.

We'll see. We've also talked about waiting until 2013 and maybe looking into the All-Star Game. Hopefully, the Wilpons have given up the ghost by then.

[Guest themetfairy]

I'll go this year. Not as often as in the past, but I'll go. D-Dad loves Opening Day, I'm liking G-Fafif's tradition of being there for closing day, MK likes spending his birthday there, and there are the GKR events which are always fun. And Banner Day, of course, if they ever let us know when they're having it.

Other than that, I'm probably not going to go that often, and when I do I'll shop for steals on Stub Hub (I did really well there last year, and this year there should be even better deals available). But I'm done with being a plan holder - it's just not worth it.

I was thinking about this last night, and G-Fafif's beautiful memorial column about Greg Spira confirms this - for me, lately, going to games is less about the team and more about being able to spend time with my baseball family. I'm not emotionally invested in this team at all at this point, but Citi Field is where I go to hang out with people with whom I share a common connection (even if it's just our unification in hating the Wilpons).

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

If I buy at all, I'm buying eBay or otherwise direct-from-ticketholder. (StubHub kicks money back the Mets' way, which I dislike on principle under normal circumstances.)

Closing Day may be a thing, since Artie and I have done that the last two years.