Mets lower Citi Field parking prices to $25 from $40 for season-ticket holders
Parking at Citi Field has been reduced to $25 for season ticket holders. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Mets fans don’t always agree on much, but they do seem to despise the $40 fee for the parking lots at Citi Field.
The Mets apparently have heard the complaints.
So parking fees for fans who buy season tickets for 2025 have been reduced to $25 if bought in advance, or $27 if bought at the stadium on game day.
Non-season-ticket holders still will be charged $40 during the regular season, according to the club. That’s up from $18 when the ballpark opened in 2009, an increase of 122.2%.
In the 2024 postseason, the Mets charged $60 for parking in the same lots.
The Mets set the rates and share parking revenue with New York City, which owns the lots surrounding Citi Field.
The Mets, in a statement issued to Newsday on Thursday, said: “The Mets evaluate parking rates at all the surrounding tri-state area venues which have both public and private parking options. The Mets’ pricing is in line with other venues and gives fans the opportunity to park directly next to the stadium. Additionally, the Mets work closely with the MTA and LIRR on public transportation options as well as Sky View Garage that offers affordable parking options as low as $10 and is less than a 10-minute walk to Citi Field.”
The Mets added, “Additional parking discounts will be available via our loyalty program to repeat single-game ticket purchasers, and details will be announced in the coming weeks.”
The issue of the cost of attending a Mets game burst into focus this week because of comments owner Steve Cohen made on Tuesday when asked about the attendance in 2024, which was down 9.5% from the previous season.
“I didn’t like it. It really bothered me,” Cohen said. “People didn’t show up. I can’t speak for why that is.”
Are people really choosing not to attend games because of $40 parking? Some fans say that is the final straw in what can be a costly day or night.
“I’m 78,” said Frank DelBagno of Queens Village. “All my friends, most of them are Mets fans. I’m talking about people 65 or older with limited incomes and everything. They like the Mets. They would go to games. But the parking price is so high — $40. I think if you’re over 65, they should make it like $10. Calibrate it a little bit. More people would go, I think.”
Shirley resident Bill Jensen, 73, said: “I live out on Long Island, so I drove. It was like sticker shock. Pulling up to the thing to pay, it was 40 bucks.
“There’s a guy I knew that had an extra ticket one day. He said, ‘Bill, you want to go to the game?’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, how much?’ He said, ‘No, I’ve got the ticket. I’ve already paid for it.’ So I said, ‘OK, I’ll pay for parking.’ When I got there, the price of parking was about the same as a ticket.”
Jorge Martinez, a former longtime Mets season-ticket holder, was asked if $25 parking would induce him to sign up again.
Jorge Martinez, right, shown with son Jorge, left, and grandson Aaron Ewald, is upset about cost of games. Credit: Martinez family
“No,” the Freeport resident said. Martinez, 62, attends at least one game a year with his son, Jorge, and his grandson, Aaron Ewald. He called the three-generation outing “priceless” but also noted the all-in price was more than $300.
When he saw the parking fee, Martinez said he uttered something like “darn.”
“I used other language,” he said. “For many years, it was like $10, $15, maybe $25 for quite a long time. I’m very lucky I can afford to go. As a Mets fan, I’m really excited about Cohen being the owner. He’s a real guy . . . But Cohen should know better. He really should know that people just can’t lay out $300, $400 to see a baseball game.”
Parking at the garages around Yankee Stadium was $49 in 2024 for the regular season, a 157.9% increase from the $19 rate that was charged when the stadium first opened in 2009. The rate was raised to $55 for the postseason.
The Yankees don’t set the rates or derive any revenue from the parking garages, which are operated by an outside company, City Parking.
In a statement on their website, the Yankees said: “The Yankees neither control nor operate the parking lots and garages surrounding the Stadium and are not responsible for setting parking lot rates, refund policies, rules and/or procedures. City Parking was granted those rights, including responsibility for establishing and controlling parking rates, refund policies, rules and/or procedures, by New York City.”
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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