Ahead of MLB’s 2023 Opening Day festivities, there were plenty of changes that happened at Citi Field. A couple of improvements included a ginormous scoreboard and a 100-seat speakeasy beyond the right-field fence. But another thing that changed was how expensive it is to park before watching the Mets play.
As recently as 2022, it cost $25 to park at Citi Field. It’s been somewhere between $20-25 for quite some time. But this year? The price jumped up to $40. In the past, there’d typically be a difference of a dollar or two from the year before.
So what’s the deal with this huge price hike? Is it because Steve Cohen wanted another income stream to afford his $350 million team that underperformed this season?
According to Reddit, that’s not quite the case. Apparently, the price skyrocketed because there was hope it’d persuade more people to use mass transit. Here’s what Reddit user thisfilmkid said on the Mets’ subreddit:
While at the most recent game, guest experience had an answer. Next time you’re at the stadium, have a chat with them.
One employee kept it short, “The goal is to promote the usage of mass transit and to reduce the amount of cars entering and leaving our stadium and the surrounding neighborhood.”
The NY Mets guest service employee on what can be done about the parking fee, “Guest feedbacks are reviewed by our front office team, you can submit your thoughts on Mets.com. Pricing is not set by the New York Mets alone. It’s a discussion among various partners including the MTA.”
Parking at UBS arena is $50.00. One employee kept it real, “Take the train then. If not, $50.00 it is.”
Yankee Stadium: $47.00. I wouldn’t even ask why it’s expensive there because they’re going to be rude about it.
Well, it’s nice to have an actual answer as to why the price increased. As the user mentioned in their original post, this is still cheaper to park than at other NYC area sports venues. But still, going from $25 to $40 is quite the jump.
It’s also nice to know there’s an avenue for fans to share their thoughts. Maybe we can use it to talk about the price of a beer inside the stadium. That’s a situation for another day, though.
The Mets have been trying to push people to use mass transit for what feels like forever now. Even if the price is high to park, there are many who will still do it.
For me? I don’t want to cough up $40 to park, but I’m not taking the train. I live in Connecticut. So, that means taking the train to the game is about an hour-ish ride into Grand Central, followed by a 40-ish minute ride on the 7 to Willets Point. Why would I do that when I can drive a little over an hour right to Citi Field? For about the same cost?
I know — first-world problems, but I’m sure there are many people in that same boat. The parking price hike is something I’ve been wondering about this year, so getting some kind of answer (even if it’s BS) is better than no answer.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
