The Mets drew 3.4 million fans to Shea stadium in the breakout year of 2006. As long as they stay in contention, it is a fair bet that the Mets will draw close to 4 million in each of the next two years. In 2009, their attendance will drop. The Mets, in that year, will open a stadium that will limit their annual attendance to 3.6 million. I think this is terrible.
Because they can raise ticket prices in response to the demand for their tickets, and because there will be luxury boxes in the new stadium, the Mets will continue to make as much or more money in a stadium that has an annual capacity of 3.6 million than they would have made had they kept the current stadium, which has an annual capacity of 4.4 million. But the experience of being a Mets fan will change forever.
Unless the Mets get bad again, it may soon be impossible to go to a game on the spur of the moment. Going to games will become what it is for Red Sox fans, something analogous to getting tickets in the first few months for a smash Broadway hit. It will be something managed by scalpers and concierges. It won’t be showing up to see a ball game. It will feel like a privilege, something mainly within the grasp of the wealthy, and those who are willing to make the commitment to buy a season ticket.
My life is too complicated for me to commit to a Saturday plan. I also live too far away (about an hour and a quarter if there is no traffic at all). I make it to about ten games per year. And I am so glad that I can always get a seat to any game I want to attend except for games against the Yankees.
I made it to two playoff games this year. I won the lottery once. And I was able to use a ticket won by someone else who won the lottery. Will they have a lottery for future playoff games, if they have 11,000 fewer seats in the stadium and more people have purchased season ticket plans? Don’t bet on it.
45,000 seats is too small for a stadium in the largest metropolitan area in the United States. I don’t care how cute and lovely the new stadium will be. I don’t care how great the sightlines will be from almost every seat. I don’t care how much the stadium will remind people of Ebbett’s Field. If I can’t get into the stadium and if I can never see a playoff game again, my experience as a Mets fan will change for the worse.
Being a Mets fan is important to me. Don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to all of us. Add more seats.
