Successful initiatives often tend to be imitated.
Inspired by Jets fans who rented several billboards near MetLife Stadium that called for the firing of general manager John Idzik, a Mets fan began a Kickstarter campaign to fund a similar campaign for billboards asking for team owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz to sell the franchise.
U Mad at Mets Offseason Bro? Spend $1 on 2 billboards that will be seen 1 million times https://t.co/Foc20Kun0x pic.twitter.com/IlfEfTZf8b
— #FreeMetsFans (@MetsBillboard) January 7, 2015
Gary Palumbo raised $5,000 through donations from more than 175 supporters, enough to pay for two billboards that will go up on opening day of the 2015 season and remain in place for four weeks. The Kickstarter campaign had 30 days to raise the money; the goal was reached in approximately three weeks.
“I’m tired of kvetching on social media,” Palumbo said to the Wall Street Journal‘s Jared Diamond. “I’m pissed about this. Everyone’s pissed about this. Why don’t we do something about it? I want to raise our voice a little bit.”
Palumbo believes he got the final push needed to pay for the billboards from remarks Pedro Martinez made at a press conference promoting his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mets fans “settle for what they have,” the pitcher said, while “Yankees fans cannot.”
Those who donated to Palumbo’s campaign will make the final decision on what message the billboards carry. The two choices are “Sell the team” or “New owners needed.”
