Usually, when things are given for free, people will take them, but it looks like the Mets fans are not very interested in them. After the Diamondbacks and the Mets’ game was rescheduled due to weather concerns, the Mets decided to give the tickets for free to fans as a goodwill gesture. But it looks like Steve Cohen was not happy with the turnout.
After the game, New York Mets owner Steven Cohen took to X and said, “The free ticket giveaway was fully subscribed within hours yesterday. Guess the percentage of no-shows from the ticket offer?” He later posted, “The answer is 58 percent.” And that did not sit well with WFAN host Chris McMonigle.
On the podcast, McMonigle said, “He (Steve Choen) went to Twitter and made it a mistake… You come out and say, ‘I gave away free tickets, and nobody showed up.’ Like what the hell?… It’s completely tone deaf.”
The Mets moved their first game against the Diamondbacks from 7.:10 PM to 4:10 PM because the weather forecasts showed biting cold and strong winds. This would make the night game impossible to play due to the harsh conditions and could be a problem for the fans as well.
C-Mac sounds off on “petty” Steve Cohen for his “tone deaf” response to last night’s attendance:@CMacWFAN pic.twitter.com/vObjtUpzwg
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) April 8, 2026
But as compensation for that, the teams offered free tickets using the code THANKYOU and honored existing tickets with vouchers for future games. Despite all this, the turnout for the game was lower than expected. Only 42% off the fans who claimed the free ticket showed up to the game.
The unexpected no-show rate became a talking point because it clashed with what we meant to be a positive gesture.
Steve Cohen was not happy about this, but this isn’t really new. The Mets have historically struggled to draw large crowds when it comes to top teams and rank 5th in the MLB average attendance list. In 2025, the average attendance was around 37,027 fans per game.
When compared to the Dodgers, they fall around 12,000 fans short.
The start of the 2025 season did see a rise in the fans as it moved from 29,484 to over 36,700 in April. But once the New York Mets started to fall off, and the collapse started, fans started to pull out, and the Mets eventually fell out of the postseason race. And that might be one of the factors affecting the fans’ turnout in early 2026.
But the fans who missed the game are actually at a loss of their own. The Mets beat the Diamondbacks 4-3 with a Walk-Off hit from Ronny Mauricio in the 10th inning. But even in this moment of joy, the business mind of Cohen took over, and he called out the fans for not showing up even after claiming the free ticket.
Is Steve Cohen right in calling out the fans for not showing up? Yes, because there were other fans who were waiting for an opportunity to get into Citi Field to see the Mets play.
But could things have been handled better by Cohen? Yes. He could’ve just expressed his disappointment in the fans for doing this, rather than lashing out.
The Mets will need to do something about David Peterson
Steve Cohen might be angry that the fans didn’t show up for Tuesday’s game. But if the Mets continue to play like they did on Wednesday, it will justify why the fans are not showing up.
The Mets lost the 2nd game of the Arizona Diamondbacks series 7-2, ending their 4 game winning streak. The Mets never looked like they were in that game, especially after the D-Backs loaded 5 runs on the Mets in the first 2 innings.
Mets pitcher David Peterson seems to be having a major problem with his pitching after having a strong start against the Pirates. In the last 2 starts, Peterson has pitched 9.1 innings and has given up 11 runs. Peterson gave up 4 runs in the second inning, and that swung the momentum towards Arizona completely.
Sean Manaea battled through four innings of relief but still allowed two more runs. Added to this, the Mets’ bats just went silent and did nothing to be in the game.
Ryne Nelson of the D-Backs pitched 5.2 innings, giving away just 5 hits and 1 run. The rest of the bullpen followed in his footsteps and gave away just 3 more hits in the rest of the game and earned 1 run. The Mets also did not show any patience and walked just once in the whole game.
Mets’ top hitter, Francisco Lindor, went 0-5 in the game, and it looks like the team is already beginning to miss Juan Soto. Batters like Marcus Semien and Mark Vientos also had no hits in the game. Although Bo Bichette got a couple of hits, they didn’t come at crucial times and added nothing significant.
With the Mets in an already stacked NL East, they can’t afford to slip up games like this and have inconsistent performances. The Braves are off to a flying start with an 8-5 record, and is followed by the Marlins, who are also going well with a 7-5 record. The problem is that the Phillies are yet to fire on all cylinders, but are already breathing down the necks of the Mets with a 6-6 record.
So if the Mets are planning to make the postseason this time and avoid a disappointment like in 2025, they will need to get going, and everyone on the team needs to take up responsibility.
