Mets Tshirt Tuesday?

by 2 April 16, 2012

Let me start this post off by saying, I think the Mets "T-shirt Tuesday" deal is a great idea. In my opinion they just need a little bit of help. Now, this isn't a competition, and I know I'm not next on the list to be hired for any position with the Mets, but I've been asked by over a dozen people about my thoughts on this.... so here goes... When the news first broke that the Mets would be offering a ticket to the game AND a t-shirt for the price of $19 per seat I was curious as to what artwork they'd come up with. Some people even thought I may have been behind this promotion since I've been dubbed "the t-shirt guy" to some Mets fans. $19 for a ticket to the game in the left field landing with the t-shirt is a GREAT deal. To me the ticket alone is worth that price so the t-shirt is really just a bonus. Since I am obviously in the business I know the costs involved in a promotion like this. Even though they are offering 350 tickets the cost to produce that many shirts would pretty much leave them breaking even. That being said it doesn't mean they should skimp on the graphic design aspect. To those who don't know, it's slightly cheaper to print on light color shirts (white, grey, yellow) and the amount of ink colors in a design also adds to the cost. They would sell a lot more tickets if the shirts offered were ones that people were dying to have. Since the shirts are only limited to fans who can attend that game, fans would be more inclined to buy the tickets if the t-shirts were more appealing. It's a no brainer as they can't just hop over to Modells to pick one up.

The shirt here was their first effort. I'm not a huge fan of it and personally I'd never wear it. Since it was a new promotion I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe time was limited and they asked someone to throw something together? I can't picture anyone seeing this and saying "I HAVE TO HAVE THAT!" The blue shirt above is basically the same idea and I whipped it up in about 30 minutes. Their shirt is grey with black and orange print which to me says more San Francisco Giants than Mets and has Sandy's (@MetsGM) Twitter handle on the back. Unless you have Twitter, stalk Sandy Alderson or are a huge dog lover you'll prob never wear this shirt. One thing's for sure you probably weren't dying to buy a ticket just so you can have this "limited edition" t-shirt. Since they went with a 2 color front print and 1 color back print the cost to produce their shirt or an idea like mine would have been identical. To tell you the truth I probably wouldn't wear my design either, but I created it to show you my interpretation of the idea had a customer asked me to create artwork for them. Since it's a shirt for Mets fans, Mets ink colors should have been the first priority. The whole "Buddy Alderson" thing was more relevant during Spring Training when Sandy signed up for Twitter, and most fans who aren't engulfed with social media probably don't even get it. I'd like to see this be a success for the team. Attendance is down and anything to get more butts in the seats is a great idea. They just need to get someone behind the graphics that has a better feel as to what the fans want. Shirt #2 was released today. It's a slightly better effort but again, I don't think anyone is dying for one. They have 10 more weeks to get it together. I'd really like to pick one up by the end of the season. I'd just like to get a shirt I'd actually add to my wardrobe..... not donate to Good Will. To check out the shirts or to pick up a ticket click HERE.