Obviously the die-hards don’t tune out, but starting tomorrow most of the casual fans of the Mets will.
It’s a week worth of night games and one 3:15 start. Even if 10:15 wasn’t already too late for most people to tune in to a belly-flopping Mets team, the Olympic games are on this week and provide an alternative form of entertainment…even on tape delay. Even for more serious fans, if you’ve got a partner that isn’t a baseball fan and wants to watch the Olympics, this team isn’t exactly providing you a reason to say “but but but the Mets are on!” beyond the simple fact that watching something other than Mets baseball seems somewhat alien.
By the time this west coast stretch is over and the Olympics finish many fans will be drawn to the over-hyped football stories coming across in the mainstream media and will choose to root for the hope presented in teams that haven’t yet started their season over watching the Mets finish out the schedule. In addition, the ‘regular season’ of television shows will resume soon, drawing more eyes away from the Mets.
This will undo much of the good work the Mets have done in terms of fan interest the last couple of months. Just like in 2011, the fade down the stretch will lead to more disastrous predictions during the offseason and no belief in 2013. The fans will question the amount of money the Mets have to spend, every decision will be criticized and questioned, and the Mets will again be picked for last. Personally I think the Mets have made very good strides this season and are a lot closer than everyone thinks, but that won’t be readily apparent the way things are going. Additionally, the lack of interest does lead to less attendance and less revenue, which means a smaller budget for 2013.
The Mets aren’t quite eliminated yet, it’s still pretty early in that regard, but barring something radical to capture attention, like winning 14 of 16, the Mets will soon fade into the background.