Syracuse Mets

The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team in the International League, serving as the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. Based in Syracuse, New York, they play at NBT Bank Stadium, which opened in 1997 and seats 10,815. The team is named after its major league affiliate and former owner, the New York Mets. In August 2025, the club announced a rebranding for the 2027 season, which will involve a contest to generate name ideas, followed by fan voting and a new identity reveal in fall 2026.

The franchise has undergone several name changes. From 1934 to 1957, 1961 to 1996, and 2007 to 2018, it was known as the Syracuse Chiefs. Between 1997 and 2006, it was called the Syracuse SkyChiefs. After the New York Mets purchased the club in October 2018, it was renamed the Syracuse Mets.

The current franchise began in 1978 when the Toronto Maple Leafs relocated to Syracuse, reviving the Chiefs name. A previous Syracuse Chiefs team was established in 1934 when the Jersey City Skeeters relocated to Syracuse, but that franchise moved to Miami as the Marlins in 1955. That original Chiefs team won five Governors' Cup championships, including back-to-back titles in 1942 and 1943, though those titles belong to the earlier franchise, not the current one. A separate Syracuse Chiefs team competed in the Class A Eastern League in 1956 and 1957 before moving to Allentown, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 1957. The Chiefs played at MacArthur Stadium from 1934 to 1996, then moved to the new P&C Stadium (1997–2005) in 1997.

Syracuse had no professional baseball from 1957 until 1961, when the Montreal Royals franchise was abandoned by the Los Angeles Dodgers and relocated to Syracuse as the top affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, becoming the Syracuse Chiefs. The team then had affiliations with the New York Mets and Washington Senators in 1962, the Detroit Tigers in 1963, and the New York Yankees from 1967 to 1977. Baseball has been played in Syracuse continuously since the Chiefs’ rebirth in 1961.

From 1978 to 2008, the Chiefs were the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the longest of the team’s 11 major league affiliations since 1936. During this period, the Chiefs reached three Governors' Cup finals, and many players who helped the Blue Jays win consecutive World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 passed through Syracuse.