By Mason Horodyski SYRACUSE, N.Y (NCC News)- There is [are] only two weeks left until Syracuse’s Triple-A minor league affiliate takes the field with a new name for the first time since 2007. Following the New York Mets’ acquisition of the team back in October, the decision was made to re-brand the Syracuse Chiefs as the Syracuse Mets. Since then, the organization has given the team a complete face-lift with New York Mets-style jerseys, an updated mascot, and a brand new roster. Director of Media Relations Mike Tricarico said that the new look is leading to new fans.
Not only do we have [Mets] fans that are coming out and cheering the team, now we are getting the numbers increasing with those fans,” says Tricarico. “I think that excitement is building up to what is going to be a really, really fun atmosphere”. [Punctuation inside the quotes]
Those extra “numbers” are thanks to a spike in season ticket sales. Tricarico said that the team has seen an increase in the amount of tickets sold with the team’s new ticket plans.
“We’ve seen season ticket sales well above what we even expected, already reaching our goal in terms of season ticket sales. We have a lot of different ticket packages including our flex plans which are packets of ten tickets”. [Punctuation inside the quotes]
Despite there only being two weeks until first pitch at NBT Bank Stadium, the Mets are giving fans more opportunities to “Meet the Mets” before then. On Tuesday, March 26th, the New York Mets will conduct their final spring training practice before Opening Day at the Carrier Dome.
After that, fans will have the chance to meet their new, hometown Mets at the “Meet the Mets” dinner at Destiny USA Mall on Tuesday, April 2nd. Fans will be able to have dinner with some of the members of the team and participate in a charity auction to benefit Challenger Baseball, RBI Baseball, and District 8 Little League.
The Mets open the 2019 season at home on April 4th. They take on the Pawtucket Red Sox in the first of a three game series.