William Shea Ownership

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Lore & Background

William Shea's legacy is defined by his legal acumen rather than football ownership. When the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left for California in 1957, leaving New York without a National League team, Shea stepped forward to lead the effort to restore baseball to the city. He partnered with city planner Robert Moses to overcome a specific legal hurdle: New York state law at the time forbade cities from borrowing money to build stadiums unless they could prove self-sufficiency. To solve this, they proposed that a new tenant team pay substantial rent to service 30-year construction bonds. This strategy succeeded in securing an expansion franchise for the Mets, who signed a 30-year lease on October 6, 1961. The source makes no mention of Shea owning or managing a football team; his name appears only as the stadium's namesake and the architect of its financing structure.

In Their Own Story

The narrative in the source focuses entirely on baseball expansion and stadium construction, not football ownership history. In 1960, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. personally wired National League owners to assure them a new stadium would be built, paving the way for the Mets. The text details how the Mets' owners chose Flushing Meadows in Queens to avoid alienating fans of the departed Dodgers or Giants. It describes the construction delays caused by the severe winter of 1962–1963 and labor disputes, which forced both the Mets and the football team (then the Jets) to remain at the Polo Grounds for an extra year. The source mentions the Jets only as tenants who shared the stadium from 1964 to 1983, with no reference to William Shea's involvement in their management or financial affairs.

Reader's Guide

Readers should note that the source strictly distinguishes between William Shea's role and the football teams that played at his namesake stadium. The text states clearly that Shea was a lawyer responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York. It details how he and Moses proposed a financing plan where rent from tenants would pay off bonds, a provision that later caused financial problems for the Mets but is not linked to any football ownership structure. The source mentions the Jets (formerly the Titans) only in the context of sharing the Polo Grounds with the Mets in 1962 and playing at Shea Stadium until 1983. There is no information regarding William Shea's potential role as a founding owner, his tenure dates for any football team, or his successor Sonny Werblin.

Did You Know?

• William Shea was a New York lawyer who led the effort to bring National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left in 1957.
• Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, with no prior exhibition games, as telephone wiring was unfinished due to a labor jurisdictional dispute.
• The stadium seats sold for $869 per pair during demolition, a price combining the numbers '86 and '69, the years the Mets won the World Series.
• New York state law at the time required the tenant team to pay substantial rent to service 30-year bonds because the city could not borrow money to build a stadium.
• The New York Jets (originally the Titans) shared the Polo Grounds with the Mets in 1962 and 1963 due to construction delays before moving to Shea Stadium.

Origins and Political Maneuvering

The origins of the stadium are rooted in the 1957 relocation of the Dodgers and Giants. Robert Moses failed to keep Walter O'Malley because O'Malley wanted full ownership of a new stadium, while the city wanted to retain revenue rights. Los Angeles offered O'Malley what New York could not, leading to his departure. Horace Stoneham moved the Giants to San Francisco. In 1960, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. promised a new stadium to secure an expansion franchise. The Mets owners chose Flushing Meadows in Queens to capture loyalty from fans of both departed teams without favoring Brooklyn or Manhattan.

Financial Constraints and Construction Delays

New York state law prohibited cities from borrowing for stadiums without guaranteed repayment, forcing Moses and Shea to propose a lease where the tenant team paid rent to service 30-year bonds. On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year lease with rent starting at $450,000 in the first year. Construction faced delays due to the severe winter of 1962–1963, subcontractor bankruptcies, and labor issues. Consequently, both the Mets and the football team (by then renamed the Jets) were forced to play at the Polo Grounds for one more year after their inaugural 1962 season.

The Historic Opening and Early Atmosphere

Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, after 29 months of construction costing $28.5 million. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Mets 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312. No exhibition games were held, and telephone wiring was unfinished due to a dispute between Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 1106 of the Communications Workers of America. The stadium opened five days before the 1964–65 World's Fair and featured blue-and-orange steel panels matching both the fair and the Mets, which were removed in 1980.

Demolition and Legacy of Memorabilia

In 2009, Shea Stadium was dismantled rather than imploded. A company with rights to sell memorabilia had two weeks to remove seats, signage, dugouts, and foul poles before demolition began on October 14, 2008. Seats sold for $869 per pair, referencing the team's World Series years of 1986 and 1969. By February 18, 2009, the last section was torn down. The former footprint is now part of Citi Field's parking lots, with markers indicating home plate and bases.