Yankees', Mets' attendance still strong despite teams' struggles on the field
Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Credit: Getty Images/Jed Jacobsohn; Getty Images/Luke Hales
They may be faltering on the field, but the Yankees and Mets still are winners at the box office.
Both teams were home at the same time on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and more than 160,000 baseball fans went to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field to watch the teams go 2-2 against Minnesota and Atlanta.
The Mets snapped a seven-game losing streak before nearly 40,000 on Tuesday. After losing on Wednesday night — a game in which they blew an early 6-0 lead — and falling again on Thursday, they are 64-57 and a half-game ahead of Cincinnati for the final National League wild-card spot.
Entering June 13, the Mets had baseball’s best record at 45-24 and held a season-high 5½-game lead in the NL East. Since then, they are 19-33 and trail first-place Philadelphia by five games.
As for the Yankees, entering June 13, they were 42-25 and led the AL East by 4½ games. They have since gone 22-32 and are in third place in the division. At 64-57, they hold a half-game lead over Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot.
Still, the fans are coming out to see both clubs.
Going into Thursday, the Mets had seen a whopping 33.1% increase in attendance from 2024, when they drew an average of 29,484, which was 17th in MLB. Mets owner Steve Cohen said in spring training that last season’s attendance numbers “bothered” him.
This season, going into Thursday, the Mets had drawn an average of 39,242, which ranked fifth in MLB.
The Yankees continue to draw well in 2025, showing a 1.8% percent increase from 2024 (from 41,896 to 42,683).
The largest crowd at either ballpark on Tuesday or Wednesday was the 44,466 the Yankees had on Wednesday for a rain-delayed 4-1 loss to the Twins. The Yankees gave out an Aaron Judge bobblehead to the first 18,000 fans. The game was delayed by 1:52 before the start.
The Mets had a crowd of 38,647 for Wednesday’s 11-6 loss to Atlanta. That game was delayed 1:35 before the start. A pregame ceremony that was scheduled to honor Pete Alonso for breaking the Mets’ all-time home run record the night before was postponed until Thursday, when the Mets hosted Atlanta in the series finale. The Yankees were off on Thursday.
It is unusual, but not unprecedented, for the Yankees and Mets to play home games on the same dates. It will happen again from Aug. 25-27 when the Mets host the Phillies and the Yankees welcome Washington to the Bronx.
The Mets outdrew the Yankees on Tuesday night, with 39,748 showing up to Citi Field to see the Mets play Atlanta, a longtime rival that is having a down year. Alonso hit two home runs in the Mets’ 13-5 victory; the first homer was the 253rd of his career and broke a tie with Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record.
The Yankees had a crowd of 37,552 on Tuesday to see their 9-1 victory over the non-rival Twins, a team the Yankees had beaten nine straight times before Minnesota’s victory on Wednesday.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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