The Mets have added millions of dollars in new advertising inventory for the start of the ’15 season, including a new and larger scoreboard, a new LED ribbon and a new LED sign outside Citi Field facing the Grand Central Parkway. Given the optimism surrounding the team, it should be no surprise that in nearly every business area the team is at or past last year at this time. Season tickets have already exceeded last year’s total and overall ticket sales are up more than 20%. Mets Exec VP & Chief Revenue Officer Lou DePaoli said that through better inventory management, the capacity crowd that will be announced when the Mets open in a week will be more than 42,600 -- the largest crowd ever at Citi Field outside of the ‘13 MLB All-Star Game. The Mets are pacing slightly ahead of ‘14 on the corporate sponsorship side despite some outfield wall sign deals yet to be finalized, the loss of Caesar’s to a bankruptcy filing and the MLB season starting a week later. “We’re budgeted for a healthy increase there and all things considered we’re on pace,” DePaoli said. Sales at SNY were pacing about the same. SNY Chief Revenue Officer Brian Erdlen noted that naming-rights holder Citi is getting more active and will sponsor an early July “limited commercials” game, with Mets features replacing many of the ads. Citi is also sponsoring a “Beat the Booth” trivia feature, and is presenting sponsor of the popular Metsblog.com. Among other large sponsors, Verizon is sponsoring a Tuesday night baseball platform, while Pepsi is tying in with SNY’s 10th anniversary, sponsoring a package of decade-long SNY/Mets highlights that will be shown during commercial breaks. New or expanded business at SNY includes an increased commitment from national MLB corporate sponsor T-Mobile; a larger N.Y. Lottery campaign, tied to a graphical message that will drop down at the start of each inning; and campaigns from Jeep; Land Rover; and cell phone accessory marketer Vysk. Meanwhile, a new "K Board" at Citi Field will be sponsored by H&R Block.
