We noted the Dodgers’ attendance problems a little while ago, but let’s not let the Mets off the hook either. Nate Silver has a story about that in the New York Times with graphs and everything. The key takeaway: you can’t simply blame the poor performance, because even if you control for that and other factors, things look bad:
First, the downward trend appears to be accelerating ... Second, this is happening despite lower ticket prices ... the Mets are making something like 20 or 25 percent less than they “should” be making based on the size and wealth of the New York market, the quality of the team’s play over the near- and medium-term, and the way that fans rate the stadium experience at Citi Field.
In both Los Angeles and New York it seems that fans are simply saying “hey, you know what? We don’t need to go to the games. Life goes on.”
