Tebowmania already making difference at St. Lucie's box office | Videos, photos

Jon Santucci | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Show Caption Hide Caption Tim Tebow homers in first minor league at-bat Tim Tebow makes a spectacular debut for the Class A Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies, the South Atlantic League affiliate of the New York Mets.

Tuesdays at First Data Field usually means Silver Sluggers Night and Baseball Bingo.

This Tuesday will be a little different.

Tim Tebow will be making his St. Lucie Mets debut at 6:30 p.m. against the Palm Beach Cardinals, and the former Florida Gators quarterback already is drawing a crowd.

“I would estimate our overnight pre-sale between 400 and 500,” St. Lucie general manager Traer Van Allen said Monday morning. “Just that the fact there is a buzz and a pre-sale for a Tuesday game really is great."

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“The social media buzz has been incredible," Van Allen said. "This is unlike anything we’ve experienced with the St. Lucie Mets during my 17 years here.”

Tebow’s last team – the Columbia Fireflies of the South Atlantic League – averaged a league-best attendance of 5,230 fans per game. That’s almost three times what the St. Lucie Mets drew per game during the first three months of the season.

If Monday is any indication, Tebow will have a similar impact on St. Lucie’s ticket sales.

“It’s been very busy here,” Van Allen said. “It’s been steady all day from walkups to the phones ringing off the hook. A lot of people are interested and asking questions about it. It’s been really good.”

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St. Lucie won’t be the only Florida State League city where fans are looking forward to seeing Tebow.

The Fort Myers Miracle, which host the Mets on Friday, had a steady crowd of fans buying tickets Monday. They sold several hundred tickets between 8 a.m. and noon.

“It’s like SEC football over here,” Miracle vice president and general manager Andrew Seymour said. “We came in early for this reason.”

Van Allen said he’s spoken with some of the Fireflies front office staff to get an idea of what to expect when Tebowmania returns to Port St. Lucie.

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“Across the board, we're going to have to plan for an increase accordingly,” Van Allen said. “There will be a lot of sales day-of with walkups, and we’ll do our best to be ready for that. We’ll make sure we have proper increases across the board.

"All of our different departments have reached out to their staffs. We’re going to have a lot more workers for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday series than we usually have.

"The one caveat here is that he has an established reputation and history of success specific to this state, so it will be fun to watch. There will probably be a lot of people wearing Gators gear. Thankful he’s playing baseball now and we’ll welcome him with open arms here in St. Lucie.”

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Tuesday’s crowd could have quite a few of Tebow’s football jerseys. There won’t be many other options.

Tebow’s replica St. Lucie jerseys likely won’t be in the concession stands until the end of the three-game series.

“Our merchandise manager (Kyle Gleockler) has been working feverishly,” Van Allen said. “It’s tough because you can’t pre-order or order something that doesn’t yet exist.

"Our vendors, I’m sure, will be playing catchup.”

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