Mets owner Steve Cohen and WFAN's Evan Roberts not thrilled about 58% no-show rate on free ticket giveaway
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen at spring training. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
If the Mets offer free tickets, and you sign up for those tickets, are you obligated to attend the game?
It’s not clear, but Mets owner Steve Cohen might think you are.
WFAN talk show host Evan Roberts definitely thinks you are.
Roberts, on Wednesday’s edition of the “Evan & Tiki” show with co-host Tiki Barber, called it a “disgrace” that 58% of fans who signed up for the tickets didn’t use them.
Where did Roberts get the 58% figure? From Cohen, who posted it on X.
Here’s how the whole thing began:
The Mets on Monday announced that they were moving the start times for Tuesday and Wednesday’s games against Arizona from 7:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. because of frigid temperatures in New York.
As part of the announcement, the Mets offered a limited number of free tickets to both games, subject to availability and on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of four tickets per order.
At 8:22 p.m. on Tuesday, after the Mets beat Arizona on Ronny Mauricio’s walk-off single in the 10th inning, Cohen posted on X: “The free ticket giveaway was fully subscribed within hours yesterday. Guess the percentage of no shows from the ticket offer”.
Four minutes later, Cohen posted: “The answer is 58 percent.”
So 58% of those who grabbed the free tickets didn’t use them, and potentially blocked other fans from getting them.
The free ticket giveaway was fully subscribed within hours yesterday . Guess the percentage of no shows from the ticket offer
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) April 8, 2026
The answer is 58 percent .
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) April 8, 2026
That’s what stuck in Roberts’ craw.
“I want you to understand how selfish it is,” said Roberts, a big Mets fan who also hosts ‘Rico Brogna’, a Mets-themed podcast. “The Mets only put out a certain amount of tickets. There were a lot of people that probably were willing to go. You taking the tickets and not using them kept somebody — and maybe some child — from experiencing a Ronny Mauricio walk-off in the bottom of the 10th inning, all because ‘I’m just gonna take the tickets and not use them.’ Like, that’s a disgrace.”
The Yankees also were home Tuesday and Wednesday nights, hosting the Athletics at 7:10 p.m. The Yankees did not move their game times.
A Mets spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
