#CITI FIELD

[itberice]

😃

[ambettafish]

Sans ending fairy is just ✨✨

[syncoflove]

[📷] 240804 | @.citifield TWITTER & INSTAGRAM UPDATE

Rain can’t stop ATINY! A look back at last night’s unforgettable ATEEZ performance at Citi Field 🌟

[dailykoreanpop]

[240804] Citi Field's official twitter update:

Rain can’t stop ATINY! A look back at last night’s unforgettable ATEEZ performance at Citi Field 🌟 @ATEEZofficial @kqent

Credit: CitiField

[chelsea-rocks]

Pics from the ATEEZ concert @ Citi Field in NY (8/3/24) 🧡🤗

Pt. 1 (I'll put more in the next post)

[hyunjinslittledevil]

Took some pictures of babe at citifield ❤️

[cheap-pack-of-cigarettes]

See you tonight my little spicy pirates🌶️🖤

[tofudomination]

Bernkastel gave us a miracle in 1986... she can do it again. Ya gotta believe.

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-fi prompt from Becky:

I actually would love to hear where ticket/concession/merch money for concerts go. If someone has already asked about that, can you do something similar for a sports game of your choice?

Already got a request for concerts, but I can do the sports game!

So, let's go with... baseball. I've been to professional baseball games ('twas the Ducks), even if it's been a Very Long Time, so that's the one I have some perspective on. Who is in control of the money any given game (as in, who owns the stadium and the home team) varies by place and sport, so let's use the Mets and Citi Field as our example when we need a specific.

Mostly, this is because I'm in New York and so it's down to either them or the Yankees, and between the two... the Mets, through a wholly owned subsidiary, Queens Ballpark Company, are the ones that actually own their ballpark, which makes a few things easier and includes a Fun Fact about the naming. It also means that I can treat the team and the stadium as one singular entity instead of waffling over who gets to be the Main Character of this simulation. It's not exactly uncommon for teams to own their own stadiums, but it's not most of them.

(The Mets, btw, are owned in large part by a hedge fund manager. Like, 95% of the team stock is owned by this one guy. Why can't more sports be like the Packers and just belong to the city.)

In this case, I will be referring to the Forbes article on Citi Field's revenue for 2022 as a guide or framework, as they have an actual image of the financial report; they don't do much explaining of the actual data, though, so my part will be explaining the less-obvious things and doing some maths. A few other articles will also be cited as they come in useful.

I'll also note that the Mets are a very expensive team operating at a loss, but they still work for our purposes.

MONEY COMING IN:

Tickets, most obviously

To quote the wiki article on Major League Baseball:

"MLB is the second-wealthiest professional sport league by revenue after the National Football League (NFL). [...] MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2018, it drew more than 69.6 million spectators."

I didn't know that until I started researching for this post, but it makes sense. After all, baseball is "the American pastime." The Forbes article cites average attendance of 33,000 per home game. The stadium seat about 41,900, so we're looking at roughly 79% attendance. This is fine, because attendance is not the only stream of revenue.

Advertising

If you have seen a professional sports game in the past however many years, you have seen that, depending on the type of court, they are plastered in advertising. Let's take a look at Citi Field:

(Image Source: MLB website)

The Forbes article states that the stadium makes about $48.5 million per year from advertising. About $28.5 million of that comes from the various 'temporary' and long-term ads, the Nikon and Geico and Toyota and Coca Cola, etc.

$20 million of it comes from one company. I'm going to quote Wikipedia again:

The naming rights were purchased by Citigroup, a New York financial services company, for $20 million annually.

This is not uncommon! ESPN has an article about it, and some standout examples are Bank of America Stadium, Coors Field, Delta Center, FedEx Field and FedEx Forum, General Motors Place, Gillette Stadium, Heinz Field, and the list just goes on. I'm not even sure if the list is up to date, because I'm seeing even more articles elsewhere with higher figures.

Concessions

The financial report that Forbes cites has $22mill in concessions. This is not entirely surprising. Going by this page, we're looking at... 84 home games in that 2022 season. Let's assume that 33,000 average cited earlier. That's 2,772,000 attendees over the course of the season. So, what, a little under $10 per attendance tick? Entirely plausible. A hot dog plus a soda is $15, so... that tracks.

Parking

Apparently parking is, collectively, about $13mill annually. That's... genuinely a little concerning to me, for uh. Reasons. Also parking is $40.

(A lot of people go to games via train, if anyone's interested.)

Luxury Suite Premiums

I had to google this one, but uh. Turns out those fancy private box seats are even fancier and more private than I thought, bringing in over $10 mill a year.

Other Revenue - Stadium, undefined

"Other Revenue" and "post season revenue" are not given any further information, but they're about $16.5 mill so. They're definitely doing their part? Wish we had more information.

One guess is that there are events in the vein of the Citi Field Spring Carnival that contribute to the revenue through either fees to the stadium (if this is a carnival that rents the parking lot) or concessions and tickets (if the stadium rents a carnival).

Other Revenue - to the team that is not direct operating income of the stadium itself

Not counting the "other revenue" section of the financial statement, the Forbes article tells us that:

National broadcasting deals with Fox, ESPN and TBS that pay over $60 million a year to every MLB team, as well as the local cable fee the Mets get from SNY, which is over $80 million a year.

That's another $140mill in addition to the $244mill that the financial report cites.

Merchandise - not direct stadium revenue.

Get your Mets hats here! And your jerseys! And your logo bats! And your commemorative plushies! And--

MONEY GOING OUT

Operations

This one's easy: you have to pay wages to your employees, from the players themselves to the food sellers to janitorial to security to field maintenance, etc. Also, you have to pay for utilities (those billboards and floodlights aren't cheap), product to sell (frozen hot dogs), supplementary materials for products you sell (plastic cups, paper for the ticket machines, bags for garbage cans, and so on), and repairs/maintenance for the stands themselves (can't imagine they get through a season with all 41,900 seats intact).

Player salaries (and a few others, like the coach) aren't actually included in stadium revenue, but since the stadium is owned by the team, we're bundling them together for the sake of this case.

Payment in Lieu of Taxes

So this is an interesting one, and while the Forbes article does touch on it, there's a bit more detail to the story.

Citi Field was built in 2009, and the process cost $850 million. Of that, $615 was public subsidies. A lot of this was municipal bonds, which the Mets have to pay back with interest for the lifetime of the park; those municipal bond repayments are an offset, and in return for paying tens of millions in municipal bond repayments each year (the 2022 report shows about $43.5 mill), Citi Field does not have to pay property taxes.

Wikipedia only cites property taxes, but the financial report doesn't include any other taxes, so I'll assume the only other taxes they're on the hook for are sales and payroll, which aren't displayed in the financial report.

Parking

Right, so, parking as a bundle is about $7.5 mill in expenses, which means that parking alone has a marginal profit of about 42.3%, given the earlier figure of $13mill in parking revenue. I'm not finding any solid information on where that money goes, but it seems very like that New York City's taxes on land use for parking is not included in the property tax exemption we discussed above, and that most of the $7.5 mill is in that regard.

Post Season Expenses

I'll be honest, they don't define this $1.8 mill, but given what is and isn't included in the other sections, I'm going to hazard a guess that this may be about upgrades (more than maintenance) or replacement of physical billboards that are also not included as regular maintenance but require a lot of manpower to get up and set if complicated enough.

General and Administrative

This is the other possible allocation of the utilities and related payments. This is also where back of house activities like accountants, lawyer fees, payroll clerks, facilities managers, and so on are bundled in. It's about $5.5 mill.

Publicity and Promotions

This one's easy, it's just marketing that doesn't fall into General Mets Things and is rather for home games specifically.

Depreciation and Amortization

Bit trickier, but you know how a car loses value the second you drive it off the lot? That is depreciation. You paid $20,000 for a car, but two years later it's worth $16,000; on a financial report, you put that down as a $4,000 loss to depreciation. Amortization is similar, in that it lowers values of various assets in relation to time and relative value to what it was when new.

Interest Expenses

Expenses related directly to interest rates tend to get their own line separate from regular debt repayments. This isn't really relevant beyond 'loans are more expensive than when you first get them.'

Travel and League Expenses

Since this is a traveling team, being professionals, and a Major League Baseball Team in particular, money has to be spent on the plane rides, team bus, and of course, the league fees. I wanted to end that a bit more pithy, but it turns out it's not easy to find league fees for the MLB.

(A new team joining would have to pay about $2.2 billion, according to one article, while previous new additions were a couple hundred mill, so... 100 mill? Maybe?)

Hope that answers your question!

[coastal-kate]

[conniesmlb]

Grimace throwing the first pitch at Citi Field. Too damn cute.

[keshbabyy]

The way that I got tickets to see Ateez as a birthday present for myself is the only.good thing that happened yesterday

[markycheerios]

(source)

[gamercookies]

FAV PICS OF THE CONCERT!! 🫶🏼😭💗9/10

[ohmymets]

fave citi field moments of 2024: pride night

Mets vs Astros, June 28th

Things that happened on Pride night at Citi Field:

We got the giveaway hat. We didn't think we'd be in time for that, but the crowd arrived quite late overall. It was such a chill crowd though, everyone sitting in their assigned seats and getting excited about ballpark food. Just absolute joy all around

I replaced my favourite koozie that I lost with a rainbow koozie

There was a DJ playing real house music. I love house music but don't like nightclubs so it's always a treat to hear it out in the wild

Orville Peck did a lovely rendition of the National Anthem. Full disclosure, I don't know much about him but I got some messages from friends asking if I saw him perform and I was happy to confirm!

Jeff McNeil got a home run! I don't know why this makes me laugh but it does

The José Iglesias concert was one for the ages! He was just singing along with the record and not an actual backing track, but the best part was definitely when the rest of the team came out to sing with him. To me, this was one of the first times I clocked that this team was Special

I took this photo (i had to grab it from my instagram so it's also got my oh-so-witty caption I took that night)

So yeah, I'm thinking there should be more pride nights!!

[dailykoreanpop]

ATEEZ show goes on at Citi Field despite delay caused by thunderstorms

South Korean all-stars ATEEZ hit a home run at Citi Field Saturday night with a showstopping performance that neither rain, lightning, nor extreme heat could stop them from electrifying the arena.

The forecast for Aug. 3 seemed grim for ATEEZ fans—affectionately known as ATINY—as foreboding rainclouds and the rumble of thunder encroached upon the home of the Mets. Inspired by the group’s music videos, thousands of ATINY dressed in cowboy hats, pirate suits, and even pinned fake money to themselves while braving both the extreme heat and periodic downpours. At one point the faithful were even forced to take shelter beneath the 7-train station’s overpass amidst a particularly heavy deluge – still, their dedication never wavered. 

Tolkitea, 30, huddled outside of Citi Field fanning themself, unable to get up from the sidewalk under the pressure of the severe temperature and humidity. However, the thick almost unbearable air did not wipe the pure elation from the New England native’s flushed face when they talked about ATEEZ and what they mean to them.  

“They are so authentic about who they are…They are community and inspiration to me. I hadn’t drawn for years. I went to art school, and I got art burnout and then went into the corporate world, and it sucks away your soul. And you think wow maybe I don’t want to do what I love again, and then ATEEZ went on tour, and I started to draw again making freebies [for other fans,]” Tolkitea said, crediting ATEEZ for igniting their artistic spark once again. 

The day started off with an eventful afternoon block party that began with blue skies and sunshine as Mr. and Mrs. Met showed off their best “Crazy form” outside of the stadium, along with supporters distributing their artwork, fan-made freebees, trading photocards, and filming dance challenges. Nevertheless, as the time drew closer to the stadium opening its doors (6 p.m.), ominous rain clouds unleashed a downpour that delayed the concert for about two hours. 

ATINY’s sheer dedication to ATEEZ rivaled that of a United States Postal worker neither buckets of rainfall nor the extreme heat deterred them from seeing their favorite band. They grabbed garbage bags, huddled under umbrellas, and took shelter beneath clothing and small alcoves as they awaited the fate of their concert to be announced by Citi Field representatives. 

Drenched in a combination of sweat and rain, the fans spirits would not dampen as they sang and chanted ATEEZ’s name until at 9:30 p.m., when the thunder ceased, and music began to blare from the speakers preparing a jam-packed stadium for an unforgettable night. 

Rising from the water-slicked stage in a cloud of smoke, the eight members of ATEEZ (housed by 

KQ Entertainment) HONGJOONG, SEONGHWA, YUNHO, YEOSANG, SAN, MINGI, WOOYOUNG and JONGHO stepped onto the stage taking in the sight of thousands of adoring supporters waving their glowing light sticks for the second stadium performance in the United States.

“New York thank you so much for waiting so long. A little rain can’t stop us,” HONGJOONG, ATEEZ’s Captain, said. 

Perhaps it was the long wait in extreme weather conditions, but many of ATINY let out tears and shouts of joy as ATEEZ rode on the stage like true “Pirate Kings.” 

Emotions were running high for the members of ATEEZ as well, as SEONGHWA shared a heartfelt speech about how precious life after the passing of his grandparents. 

“I used to think our time was eternal. I have believed in moments that will be remembered far away than eternity. But through a few goodbyes, I’ve learned that life isn’t forever. Saying this because we still have time. So, this life is too precious. So don’t live a life of hating and jealousy on each other Take care and love one another. Don’t save the word I love you…To let go of the sorrows, to cry when I have to, I will walk and wake up no matter what pain I get, I’m going to save myself. I desperately hope that you all become a star in someone. I can do it. You are already my stars,” SEONGHWA said. 

Twenty-seven-year-old Wanya Beeks shared that this raw honesty and encouragement are what helped her through suicide and depression. Pushing her walker aside, Beeks spoke candidly on ATEEZ’s ability to connect with fans while also sharing the pain they have experienced. She even went as far as to say they saved her life. 

“ATEEZ for me is like a whole different galaxy. They are my earth, my kings, my family, the loves of my life,” Beeks said. “I’ve been dealing with depression and suicide thoughts since I was in first grade. ATEEZ made the song ‘Sunrise’ and it brought me out of my depression. I have really bad anxiety too, so any time I feel that I play ‘Sunrise’ and it helps me. It motivates me to love myself and to feel better about the things that I love.” 

“It’s very inspiring to see just a different group come together and make such beautiful music,” Beeks added. 

ATEEZ has set the bar high, not just for K-Pop artists, but the music industry as a whole.  Since their debut in 2018, they have released chart-topping albums, won numerous awards, became the first K-Pop male group to perform at Coachella, and now have performed in several United States stadiums. 

These history makers inspire Malaya Salcedo, an Asian woman struggling to make a name for herself in the art industry. Salcedo says their success is one for the Asian community and emphasizes that representation matters. 

“Their music grounded me and made it easier when I just got back from studying abroad and everything was just happening so fast. It was comfort and it was a sense of home,” Salcedo said. “I am a painter and seeing their representation and break the glass ceiling over and over again and making sure it’s representative no matter what industry they work in, it’s inspiring to see. I want to aim more because they didn’t stop when people said [ATEEZ] couldn’t do it.”

That passion and determination that so many love about ATEEZ was on full display Saturday night. Perhaps it was a combination of frustration with the storm, appreciation to perform in another stadium, but the level of intensity and fierceness was at an all-time high for the young men. 

Before the stroke of midnight, due to city rules, the fair princes of pop were forced to bid fans farewell, closing the evening with thunderous applause and a spectacular firework display. 

ATEEZ has only two shows on their world tour in the United States: Chicago on Aug. 10 and 11. 

Credit: amny