New York Mets - Citi Field

Mon August 3

“Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd…”

For some weeks now I had been looking forward to today’s visit to Citi Field to see a Major League Baseball match between the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks. It didn’t disappoint.

Citi Field opened in April this year, replacing the famous Shea Stadium as the Mets’ home ground for the 81 home matches it plays in each regular season. Its capacity is 42,000 – down quite significantly from Shea Stadium’s capacity of 57,000.

But, like the MCG a few years ago, was not to build a bigger venue but to produce a more comfortable experience for fans, better quality food and to generate new revenue streams. From tonight’s observation, they’re on track in each of these areas.

I took the subway from Grand Central Station in Manhattan to the borough of Queens where Citi Field is located, about a 30-minute train ride. The stadium cost more than $800 million to build, half of which has been recouped in a naming rights deal with Citi Group.

Arriving a little while before the gates open, I wandered across to the adjacent Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, home to the US Open tennis tournament. Unfortunately, because the year’s final grand slam begins in a fortnight, the venue was in setup mode so I was unable to get inside.

So it was back to Citi Field, where outside n the car park they have installed plaques to signify where the old home plate and bases were located in the old stadium. It is a nice connection to the past and was clearly a popular photo opportunity for fans on their way into the stadium (including Fred!)

I entered the stadium through the fantastic Jackie Robinson Rotunda, complete with escalators, merchandise store and walls of photos that showcase the immense history of the one of the game’s oldest clubs.

While the fans arriving early took the chance to watch the players warm up, I befriended one of the event staff (Howard) and asked a few questions about the venue. Given I have been unable to secure any meetings with representatives from stadiums on my New York leg, this is as close to new information as I’m going to get. While he was very helpful, he seemed keenest to tell me he has worked at 50 of the 58 matches this season!

There are scores of food and beverage facilities in the new stadium, including the very popular Shake Shack, although the food is as expensive as you’d expect. A beer is $7.50, soft drink $4.95, $6.50 chips, etc. More disturbingly, they list the number of calories in each item on the board, which makes you think twice when selecting your food of choice! Although by looking around at the fans, it might be too late for some…

There are plenty of fan zones out the back, including interactive areas for kids to play modified baseball games and a hitting net for any fan to face up to the speed of a real-life pitcher.
Interestingly, there is no Allianz Arena-like cashless smart card which, given the stadium only opened this year, is quite surprising. Other points of interest:

· When the ground announcer speaks over the PA system, the scoreboard has subtitles listed.

· The text message system for fans who spot something suspicious or requiring security attention is promoted on the scoreboard.

· There is a lot of fan involvement during the game via the scoreboard, including a sing-off between fans where the rest of the crowd votes on the winner by SMS, giving a cake to a fan whose birthday is today, asking any couple featured on the screen to kiss (“Kisscam”) and emailing your photos in during the game and seeing a selection shown on the screen during the eighth innings.

· The acoustics are excellent. At no stage did it appear too loud or soft.

· TV commentary is played over the PA on the concourse, so you’re never far from the action.

I had great seats right behind home plate on the top level, which were a steal (pardon the pun) at about A$40. The game itself was really interesting, with Arizona racing to a 6-0 lead after just two innings, forcing the Mets to replace their pitcher as they tried to stem the tide. It worked, as they slowly worked their way into the game.

At the bottom of the ninth, it was 6-5 to the visitors with the home team needing to score twice in its final inning to win the game. Despite some strong support from the 35,000-strong crowd, the Mets fell at the last hurdle.

Like the rest of this tour, attending today’s match was a once-in-a-lifetime experiences that lived up to expectations.

On Wednesday I'll be touring Yankee Stadium and (hopefully) attending the following night's Yankees v Boston Red Sox match.

But for now, it's time to catch up with the wife!