The Mets’ attendance dip has become a talking point, but the numbers still don’t scream crisis.
With no home games left in 2026 and only three remaining overall, weather permitting, Citi Field’s turnstile count has taken a noticeable hit. The club is down 14.8% in attendance, a drop that looks ugly on the surface. Still, that kind of slide was always going to happen after the explosion of interest around 2025.
That season was fueled by the arrival of Juan Soto, and 3,184,570 fans came through the gates. That was the fourth-highest total in Mets history, the best figure of the Citi Field era, and it topped the previous year by nearly 20,000.
The real issue here is less about one down year and more about whether the decline turns into a pattern. That’s where concern starts to make sense.
A single step back after a huge spike is one thing. Repeated drops are another.
Even with the decrease, the Mets’ 2026 total still stands as the 17th highest in franchise history and the third-highest of the Citi Field years. Only 2025 and 2016, when the club was coming off its World Series run, have been better.
There was also a practical mistake baked into the way the season was handled. The Mets hurt themselves by not selling the second-half of the schedule right away.
That left the building less full down the stretch, not only because fans stayed away, but because those tickets were never accounted for in the first place. The club tried to dynamically price as if a strong team would keep the demand rolling, and that gamble did not pay off.
Post-COVID, though, the 2026 crowd count is still the highest the Mets have posted. The full 2022 and 2023 seasons each finished around 2.5 million, so even a year that is down by roughly 200,000 from the recent peak is not a disaster. The early buzz after an NLCS appearance and the Soto signing made the stadium easier to fill than usual, and that kind of energy doesn’t always last.
What stands out most is how steep the drop was relative to everyone else. The Mets lost almost 6,000 fans per game and more than 472,000 overall, the biggest decline in baseball. Only two other teams fell by as many as 200,000 tickets, with the Houston Astros next at 255,000, and they might still make the playoffs.
The next drop is probably coming too. If the team plays well, the conversation will swing back toward fans not showing up enough.
But the year after that is the one that really matters. Plenty of people decide in December how many games they’ll attend the following summer, and that’s where the Mets’ attendance story will be shaped.
For now, the warning light is blinking, not flashing red. In December 2025, the Mets lost Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso while signing Jorge Polanco. That was the backdrop for the season ahead, and it helps explain why the crowd count should be viewed as a trend to watch, not a reason to panic just yet.
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