Why Did The Mets Ban Backpacks At Citi Field?

The Mets swept the so-hapless-even-their-owner-is-mad-at-whoever-made-them-this-hapless Marlins this weekend to crawl back within a game of a .500 record, but first they unveiled a Friday surprise: an email announcing that starting next Monday, fans will no longer be allowed to bring backpacks into Citi Field, or at least “Citi Filed.”

And, as if to make clear that the team needs copy editors even more than healthy starting pitchers, the Mets updated the bag FAQ on their website to include an editor's note about how and when to revise it once the new policy is in place:

All of which is amusingly #LOLMets, but the bigger question remains: What is it about backpacks (but not shoulder bags or diaper bags or purses, all of which are still allowed so long as they’re smaller than 16 inches in their largest dimension) that is a particular security risk? And what made it so urgent an issue that the new policy needed to be phased in during a mid-May series against the Nationals?

The Mets front office wouldn't comment on the record beyond forwarding a press release that reiterated the move was to enhance first of all "fan safety," and secondly a "convenient ballpark experience." Security experts, though, recommended taking with a large grain of salt any idea that backpack bombers might be stalking Flushing.

"Simply banning backpacks allows for the entry of weapons that can be hidden in a purse, briefcase, or computer case," says Walter Enders, an economist and security expert at the University of Alabama. "Size is not really an issue since two individuals with computer bags can probably carry the same type of weapon as in one regular sized backpack."

"Is it going to stop an actual plot? Well, of course not," adds Bruce Schneier, the Harvard security expert who coined the term "security theater" for measures that make people feel safer without actually protecting them. "Look up TheBeerBelly.com," he suggests, to see how easy it is to get pretty much anything non-metallic past security if you really have a mind to.

In fact, the Mets' own FAQ steers quickly away from any "enhanced security" claims, instead insisting that the problem with backpacks is that they have so damn many pockets that it slows down the lines:

Why backpacks? Can't a purse have just as many pockets to search, so why are you allowing that style bag?

Backpacks have a lot of compartments and are cumbersome to inspect. While we understand that other bags could be just as large or have multiple compartments, we are able to limit the number of bags that fit that criteria by prohibiting easily identifiable bags such as backpacks. It allows us to screen guests faster and more effectively.

Enders agrees that speeding up bag-check lines is indeed an important factor, though maybe not for the reasons one would hope: "Such congestion is dangerous since the crowd is vulnerable to an attack by those who do not have to go through any security whatsoever."

The most likely explanation for the bag policy shift, honestly, is that all the other kids are doing it. MLB had previously been one of the more laissez-faire sports leagues about bringing bags to games. Even as the NFL became ever more stringent about making fans transfer all their worldly possessions into clear plastic bags, virtually all baseball teams stuck to allowing all bags under 16”x16”x8”, requiring only that you submit to a search for contraband at the stadium entrance. (Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center both allow most bags as well, though they ban bringing in your own food and beverages.) The disparity was likely a function of a couple of differences between football and other sports: A lot more MLB, NBA, and NHL games are held on weeknights and attended by people arriving via public transportation, so “leave your bag in your car” isn’t an option; and MLB teams have a lot more tickets to sell, so can’t be risking alienating fans who might think “if I have to go home first to drop off my bag, I may as well stay there and watch on TV.”

In recent years, though, more baseball teams have begun to expand their bag bans, specifically targeting backpacks as unacceptable ballpark accessories. In 2017, the St. Louis Cardinals outlawed backpacks, and the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, and Tampa Bay Rays did the same this March. The Nationals came under particular scrutiny by offering fans the chance to check their bags for a fee — and since the private bag-check firm would be searching these bags first, it effectively meant the team was happy to search all those nefarious backpack pockets, so long as it could make fans pay the salaries of those doing the searching.

Though the Mets don't offer any bag check services—and unlike outside Yankee Stadium, there are no local stores eager to stow your bags for $10 a pop—the theory that the Mets backpack ban is more about saving the famously penny-pinching owners some cash than about saving lives is not one that eluded New York sports fans:

Importantly, what you can pack in your bag for a Mets game remains unchanged: pretty much anything other than alcoholic beverages, open liquid containers, weapons, or animals. (Unless it's Mets Dog Night. Or, presumably, Mets Nunchuck Night.) That means that the directive that a Mets official gave me before Citi Field's opening in 2009 remains valid: "You can bring in a turkey sandwich, but not a whole turkey."

Still, more bag restrictions means fewer bags, which means fewer turkey sandwiches. And that, Schneier suspects, is one more reason for the burgeoning backpack bans: "It is a self-ban on bringing in your own food. So from a business point of view, it's great to do it, and blame security."

In the meantime, if you must bring a backpack to a major-league ballgame, you'll have to do so at Yankee Stadium, where the bag rules remain unchanged: So long as it's soft-sided and under 16"x16"x8", you're good to go. The Yankees don't allow laptops, though, while the Mets do, so if you're coming from work with a laptop in a backpack, you'll have to drop it off at home first. Or better yet, just go home and watch the game on TV—the concessions prices are cheaper there anyway.