City-owned suites at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field that were expected to bring in $1M annually in revenue for N.Y. saw only a "fraction" of that figure last year, according to documents cited by Greg Smith of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The city-owned suites each have a "capacity for 12" patrons, but the suites pulled in "less than $160,000 last year." Under its deal with the Yankees and Mets, the city "relies entirely on the teams to scare up what could be easy revenue for the city that subsidized both teams’ new homes." Documents show that both teams now appear to make "barely any effort in that regard, with the Yankees renting out the suite on only 16 of 83 home games" during the '13 season. The Mets did "slightly better, leasing it out for 30 games." A box of similar size at Yankee Stadium "typically rents for $600,000 per year." But last season the Yankees "scrounged up a paltry $100,107 in rent for the 'landlord suite' for the entire season," while the Mets managed to "collect a pathetic $59,889." The city must renew the agreement to "waive use of the box each year." The lease with the city "mandates that both teams must make a 'reasonable effort' to rent out the landlord suites, and requires them to charge 'market rates' for rent and tickets." Most of the money must be "turned over to the city each year." However, since '09, the city has "never double-checked to see if the teams were, in fact, charging market rates for the use of the city’s boxes" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/3).
