Mets' attendance at Citi Field for 2026 season dropped 14.8%

The Mets’ lost season on the field led to a big loss at the box office.

The team's average attendance for the 2026 season at Citi Field was down 14.8% from the prior season after the team saw a 38% increase in 2025.

The Mets, who went 36-45 at home and are spending the final week of the season on the road, drew an average of 33,901 fans in 2026 after averaging 39,775 in 2025. After ranking fifth in Major League Baseball in attendance in 2025, the Mets went into the final week of the 2026 regular season ranked 12th.

The Mets’ total home attendance this season was 2,712,120 as compared to 3,182,057 in 2025. The Mets had one sellout this season (Opening Day) after 19 in 2025, when the team set a single-season Citi Field attendance record.

“We are deeply grateful to every fan who came to Citi Field this season,” the Mets said in a statement provided to Newsday. “While the year did not unfold the way any of us hoped on the field, Mets fans continued to bring the passion, loyalty and energy that make this ballpark special. Through Family Sundays, theme nights, giveaways, alumni celebrations and unique events beyond the game, our focus remained on making every visit unique and meaningful. We appreciate the support of our fans all season long and thank them for continuing to show up for this team.”

Fans went into this season unsure of the team’s prospects after an offseason that saw longtime fan favorites Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz and Jeff McNeil either get traded or leave as free agents.

The Mets suffered through a 12-game losing streak in April and spent a good chunk of the season in last place in the NL East. Seemingly every move president of baseball operations David Stearns made in the offseason failed miserably. Manager Carlos Mendoza was fired on June 26.

The fans’ voicing of their dissatisfaction hit a crescendo last week when Alonso returned to Citi Field and was greeted with cheers which led into sustained chants of “Fire Stearns.”

Jack McDonough of Huntington, who attended the Sept. 14 series opener against Alonso and the Orioles, said: “I have family members who can’t say Stearns’ name without putting a word in front of it, you know? When they lost 12 in a row, I think a lot of people just said, ‘Oh, the hell with it. I’m just not going to watch it anymore.’ ”

Of the Sept. 14 game, McDonough said: “The atmosphere was just incredible.”

The Mets can thank Alonso for one thing: That game drew 35,800, which is much more than a late-season Monday game against Baltimore would have attracted otherwise.

There is a positive way to look at the Mets’ overall attendance numbers. In 2024, a year that ended with a miraculous run to the NLCS, the Mets averaged 28,757 in the regular season, a figure that was 17th in MLB and that owner Steve Cohen said “really bothered me.”

So even in a down 2026, the Mets were up 17.9% from 2024 in average attendance.

The Mets under Cohen have worked hard to create an atmosphere at Citi Field in which fans can have a good time even if the team isn’t winning on a particular night – or in a particular season.

“Given ownership and where they are, the Mets can always fail upward a bit,” said Robert Boland, a sports law professor at Seton Hall who also concentrates on gaming, hospitality and entertainment. “It’s probably not a terrible year [at the box office] given the fact that even after about May 15th, the team kind of dropped precipitously out of the race. And expectations were guarded anyway. I think this was probably a year that could have been much worse.

“I think you're seeing the benefit of the smaller modern stadium and the benefit of the entertainment value. The idea that you can get a large number of casual fans to come out for a night or two during the course of a season to enjoy time together even if the product isn't as good as you'd like. And Major League Baseball has really, I think, been very scientific in timing games, pricing games and managing games that way. The Mets have been really good, I think, about handling their luxury amenities, too, that bring you into the stadium a little more often. So they're probably starting a little farther ahead than they did in past years.”

Mike Catapano of Massapequa Park said he went to six or seven games at Citi Field this season and would have gone to more “if they had been doing better . . . I know there was a lot of disappointment in the air with the way the season was going. Of the six or seven games I went to, I think they only won like two or three. So there was a little bit of disappointment in the air. But every time I went there, it would seem to be a decent crowd.”

The Mets have already started preparing for the 2027 season with the announcement on Tuesday that they removed the interim tag from manager Andy Green and signed him to a three-year deal. Young players like Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean, and Zach Thornton also emerged this season.

Meanwhile, the Yankees, who have clinched a playoff berth and are finishing the regular season this week with a seven-game homestand, went into the week down 1.7% in average attendance from 2025. Last season, the Yankees drew an average of 42,408, which was third in MLB. This year, they had drawn an average of 41,676 going into Tuesday, which was second in MLB.