On the eve of the Yankees’ 2025 home opener, Mayor Eric Adams announced that this year’s Yankees and Mets home games are projected to generate $909 million in economic impact for New York City.
The recent success of New York City sports teams has been a boon to the local economy and a major driver of tourism. Last year, the Yankees, Mets, and WNBA Liberty all made their respective playoffs, and those home games alone generated nearly $200 million in economic activity, according to Adams’ office.
The Bronx went all out for the Yankees’ 2024 playoff run, which led to the team’s first World Series appearance in 15 years. Local sports bars and fan shops opened early, stocked up on championship merch and catered to huge crowds hours before each game time.
But even regular home games attract tourists and locals alike and have a significant impact on the city’s bottom line, said Adams at Yankee Stadium Wednesday.
“So each time someone spends money in a restaurant, a stadium, in a retail store, by buying apparel, or at a hotel, it infused money into our economy and played a major role of the recovery of our economy as bond raters have clearly shown that this is a great investment, the city called New York,” Adams said.
Yankees President Randy Levine said that although the baseball rivalry runs deep across the five boroughs, “When it comes to doing right by the city and doing things to help people of the city, we’re shoulder to shoulder.”
Compared to the Mets, the 2025 Yankees are expected to generate a higher economic impact because of their higher ticket prices and historically higher attendance figures — which is not to be taken as a projection of either team’s performance, according to Adams’ office. The economic impact of Yankees home games is projected at $594 million, compared to $315 million for the Mets.
Both teams are looking to keep positive momentum going after last year’s playoff success that many hoped would lead to a Yankees versus Mets “Subway Series.”
The Mets and Yankees will play each other six times during this year’s regular season, compared to four last year, said Mets’ President of Business Operations Scott Havens.
He hinted that this season — exactly 25 years since the last time the teams faced off in a World Series — might just be the time for it to happen again.
“This happens to be the 25th year since the year 2000. And I think we would like to have another shot,” Havens said.
Though the mayor’s office said it did not have projected figures for the economic impact of a Subway Series, Adams said it would be “significantly more” than the $200 million from last year’s MLB and WNBA postseason home games.
The Yankees will take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on March 27, and the Mets home opener at Citi Field in Flushing against the Toronto Blue Jays is Friday, April 4.
