Syracuse, N.Y. -- The 2014 season opener of the Syracuse Chiefs marked the first game of the new tenure of general manager Jason Smorol.

The community was so excited about the promise of new management that 6,661 showed up at NBT Bank Stadium for the home debut. International League president Randy Mobley, who was in town for the event, saw the large crowd building outside the gates and jumped in to help sell tickets.

"I called him up this year, he says ‘How do you think it’s going to be?’'' Smorol said earlier this week. "I said “Randy, I might need you to come back up and sell tickets because it’s going to be even bigger than it was that first year.’’’

And how big could that be?

"I think it’s going to be a sellout,'' Smorol said.

Translated to hard numbers, that would mean a gathering of 11,071 at the April 4 home opener against Pawtucket. The franchise record for a home opener is 12,627, set in 1949. More recently, a crowd of 12,112 showed up for the opening of the current stadium in 1997.

But this year’s event has something that none of its predecessors had. The Syracuse team will be called the "Mets.''

What’s that worth? Hard to say, and the answers in the short-term and the long-term may differ greatly.

But for now, Smorol is banking on what he calls the "Mets effect'' to bring some excitement back to NBT Bank Stadium. He refers to the franchise as a "shiny new toy'' that is appealing to fans who may have grown indifferent toward it under previous affiliations with Washington and Toronto.

"It’s shiny because it is the New York Mets. Before, we were the Chiefs and we were with different organizations, whether it was the Blue Jays or whether it was the Nationals,'' Smorol said. "We’ve been doing so good over these last five years, and each year just doing better and having great promotions and getting interest and getting buzz.

"Now, we’re affiliated with the New York Mets. And the New York Mets players are going to be here. And the excitement and the buzz, it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. There’s a distinct interest in the New York Mets. So, for us, we know we’re going to get a lot more people here.''

The Mets purchased the Syracuse franchise after the 2017 season, but Syracuse remained affiliated with Washington last year. This is the first season the Mets will send their Triple-A prospects to Syracuse.

New York and Syracuse are going all-in to turn their theory that Central New York can be a Mets’ hotbed into reality. New York touts the community of its minor-league pipeline from Brooklyn (Class A) to Binghamton (AA) to Syracuse. The Mets went out of their way to hold their final spring training workout Tuesday in the Carrier Dome to stir up local support.

Without revealing specific numbers, Smorol said ticket sales have spiked every day since that event. He said opening day presale tickets are double what the team did last year, when it pulled in 3,559 for the opener.

Smorol said sales through the opening weekend of play are the strongest since he took over the team in 2014 and that merchandise and sponsorship sales are also booming.

"It’s not just baseball. It’s the New York Mets. And I don’t think that that can be underestimated of what the Met effect is,'' Smorol said. "So far, we’ve underestimated the Met fans and the Met effect. So we need to be ready for a sellout opening day. I think that’s what our mindset is at. So, we’re ready for 10,000-11,000 people for opening day.''

As far as maintaining that interest, the franchise faces a history of lukewarm interest that’s largely dependent upon the variables of winning and weather. The Chiefs averaged 4,202 last year, the second-worst figure in the IL and a 9.3 percent dip from 2017. Syracuse drew 3,743 in 2014, 3,803 in 2015 and 4,158 in 2016.

"Going into the season, I was thinking that there should be a solid 10 percent bump (in overall attendance),'' Smorol said. "Then if the sun shines more, then maybe you get 15 percent. And if we win, maybe we get 20 percent. We’ll see what happens. I’m not putting a gauge on it.''

Whatever surge shows up on opening day and then throughout the early part of the schedule, Smorol knows that’s only part of the challenge. Those curious fans whose eyes are initially caught by the shiny new product in town must then be convinced to return when the novelty wears off.

"There’s going to be so many more new people here that have never seen our show. So then it becomes up to us to make sure our customer service is great, make sure our promotions are great, make sure our food is great, make sure the guest enjoys his or her experience and see what we do here,'' Smorol said. "I think that we do it like nobody else. We put on a great show. I hope that when these new fans come, that they say that we like it too and we’re going to come back.''