$24,999 a seat? Mets’ billionaire owner is trying to attract millionaire fans
Well, somebody has to pay for that $370 million payroll.
The Mets announced Tuesday it will open a membership only speakeasy behind Citi Field’s right field fence this season called The Cadillac Club at Payson’s, in honor of founding owner Joan Whitney Payson.
Memberships in the first row cost $24,999 per seat, team spokeswoman Katie Agostin said.
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Rows 3 and 4, the only areas of the 100-seat club currently available, cost $19,000 per seat. Members are entitled to buy guest passes, with the cost and availability varying by the date. The Mets said the club will be limited to 25-30 members.
The club is climate controlled and includes a private bar with field views, lounge seats, flat-screen televisions, in-seat storage and personal beverage coolers. An in-stadium concierge is provided. Food, wine, beer and soft drinks are included, and cocktails are available.
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Entering their third season of Steven Cohen’s ownership, the Mets has boosted payroll to a projected $370 million, well past the previous record of $297.9 million of the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets’ luxury tax payroll projects to about $390 million, which would result in a tax of about $116 million.
Angels owner Arte Moreno is not a big Cohen fan.
“I like the fact that people want to win,” he said. “But I just would like everybody to have a chance. Like if somebody came to my house [for a card game] and everybody is putting a thousand dollars in and one guy puts in a hundred, I mean, how many hands can he play? It’s just no fun.
“So, if you want to spend four hundred [million], then you should be taxed. It is taxed, but to me it’s just not enough. Clearly, it’s not enough.”
Luckily, the Mets will get their money back on closer Edwin Diaz, who was injured at the World Baseball Classic and will miss the season. Diaz underwent surgery to repair a torn right patellar tendon that he suffered while celebrating a win by Team Puerto Rico.
The Mets will be reimbursed for Diaz’s $18.64 million salary in 2023 should he miss the whole season, according to The New York Post and The Athletic. Major League Baseball took out an insurance policy to protect teams in case their players got injured in the WBC.
