Mets' attendance up 7.72 percent, ranks 17th in MLB this season

According to the ballclub, Mets attendance has risen 7.7% in 2015, the sixth-largest rise in attendance among MLB teams. Average game attendance at Citi Field has reached 29,284 per game, putting them 17th in baseball in attendance this season. Mets attendance is at its highest average since 2010, when the team averaged 31,602 fans per game in the second year of Citi Field's existence.

Despite the team's own numbers, even an average attendance of 29,284 seems like it doesn't match up with the reality of how many Mets fans are coming out to games at Citi Field this year, where it is a common sight to see massive swaths of the stadium unpopulated. The team's 47-42 record at the All-Star break might look to some like the mark of a contending team that would drive high attendance numbers, but Mets fans are not attending games with the frequency of years past.

The Mets put these numbers out on the Thursday after the All-Star Game, as slow a news day as there can be during the baseball season, as if they reflect some kind of progress for the team. But, the reality is that a somewhat competitive club playing in the largest city in the nation should place far higher than 17th in game attendance.