Venue Detail
New York Mets
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2012
New York Mets
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12301 Roosevelt Ave Flushing, NY 11368-1699 Phone: 718-507-6387 Fax: 718-507-6395 URL: www.mets.com Owner: Fred Wilpon League: Major League Baseball, National League, Eastern
Venue
Citi Field, 12301 Roosevelt Ave., New York, NY 11368 Owner: City of New York Managed by: Team Built: 2009 Capacity: 42,500 Permanent concession stands: 300 Concessionaire: Aramark Suite caterer: Aramark Soft drink: Pepsi Cola
Naming rights
Sold to: Citigroup Price: $800,000,000 Term: 20 years Expires: 2026
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $875 to $11,664 Single tickets range from $12.00 to $440.00
Attendance
2009 average attendance: 38,941 2010 average attendance: 31,602 2011 average attendance: 30,161
Suites
Quantity: 54 Term: 3 to 10 years Price: $250,000 to $500,000 Seats: 12 to 24
Club seats
Quantity: 7,800 Term: 3 to 10 years Price: $8,748 to $35,640
Financing
The estimated $765 million project – up to $600 million from the team for the ballpark and $165 million from the city and state for infrastructure, site preparation and other costs – prompted little community opposition.
The Mets expected to be in a new ballpark shortly after the dawn of the 21st century. Its lease at Shea Stadium expired in 2002. The team seemed on the verge of being a part of a deal to fund new ballparks for them and the Yankees when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. The attacks changed the city's priorities and pushed the ballparks off the agenda. That changed in 2006 when the team was able to put together a ballpark deal.
The new ballpark’s design tips its hat to the former Ebbets Field. It includes 54 luxury suites.
The Mets avoided major resistance because they built the new ballpark east of Shea, in their parking lot, so little changed once construction was complete.
In planning a smaller ballpark than the one they are leaving, the Mets are following a baseball trend. The 42,500 seats are 12,000 fewer than capacity at Shea, which only occasionally sold out.
It features a brick and limestone exterior, accented with archways and exposed steel; a section of the right-field seats will hang over the field (at Ebbets Field, the outfield seats were in left and center); and its wide concourses will let fans circle the ballpark without obstacles to watching the game. Like Shea, it has pitcher-friendly dimensions.
The Mets pay no rent at the new ballpark.
The Mets set a new high for naming rights deals with an $800 million agreement with Citigroup to name the team’s new ballpark.
Under a 20-year sponsorship deal with Citigroup, the ballpark was named Citi Field, displacing the name of William A. Shea. Shea, a lawyer, helped bring National League baseball back to New York in 1962, five years after the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left. Shea Stadium opened in 1964. (Baseball, Facilities, Financial, MLBMLB, Professional Sports)