With even their most ardent fans fed up by their performance the past two seasons, the Mets have come up with a stimulus plan — big ticket-price cuts.
Citi Field tickets will cost an average 14 percent less in 2011, with prices of some seats slashed nearly 40 percent.
But while the Mets say they’ve cut prices for 62 percent of the ballpark, the team’s very cheapest seats will cost $1 more.
In the 2010 season, the Mets suffered as much a shellacking in the stands as on the field — with attendance off 18 percent.
Their woeful 79-83 record, fourth in the five-team National League East, was a major factor. “We had to be aggressive,” said David Howard, the Mets’ executive VP for business operations.
Fans buying tickets in the middle price ranges seem to benefit the most from the new prices.
A Field Box Silver ticket for Opening Day or one of three Yankee games will sell for $126 in 2011, $77 less than last year — a drop of 38 percent.
Big-bucks ticket buyers will also benefit, with the priciest front-row seats behind home plate selling for $440 next year at all games, down 4.5 percent from $460.
But at the very bottom end of the scale, the prices of the cheapest seats are headed up.
The absolute cheapest tickets for less-desirable games will sell in 2011 for $12, a 9 percent increase over last year’s $11 price.