What a bunch of losers!
The Mets are so terrified by the embarrassing prospect of playing to empty seats at today’s opener, they’ve made an Amazin’ “buy one get one free” pitch.
Some 15,000 of their fans have been offered one free seat for Saturday’s or Sunday’s Atlanta game in exchange for every ticket they buy for today’s opener.
Plenty of the 41,880 seats for this afternoon’s game at Citi Field against the Braves were still available early today.
If the Mets don’t sell out, it will be the first home opener since 1997 that didn’t fill their stadium.
The team made its double-play offer in emails last week.
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The Mets sent more emails yesterday, cutting ticket prices to today’s game by between $4 and $22, depending on the seat.
The Mets spun the Opening Day, two-for-one offer as a bid to get families out to Citi Field this weekend.
“Sales are going well … closing in on a sellout for [Opening Day],” said Mets VP David Howard.
But fan Raymond Intriago of Brooklyn, who’s attending today’s game despite his bleak view of the Mets’ prospects, said, “There’s no real reason to go.’’
The team’s recent struggles include the owners’ dispute with Bernie Madoff’s victims. But they reached a deal that will cost them a lot less than they had feared.
Still, Intriago didn’t have much hope.
“They’ve been losing for the past four years,” he said as he shopped at the Mets Clubhouse store in Midtown.
“Before that, when they were actually good, they choked — and now the Madoff situation. It’s disheartening.”
Vik Sharma, 37, of Manhattan, another pessimistic Mets fan who’s going to the game today, said, “This is probably one of the worst teams they’ve had on paper in a while.
“As a Mets fan, there’s only hope — not that much optimism.”
With no preseason hype, selling April tickets won’t be easy.
And to make matters worse, while every other National League East team either made splashy offseason moves or kept their big guns, the Mets slashed payroll from $140 million to $90 million. They haven’t had a winning campaign since 2008.
“The difference between this year and, say, 2007 is fan optimism,” said Chris Matcovich, director of data for TiqIQ.com, which tracks secondary ticket sales. “A fan who isn’t entirely optimistic about this season will have a hard time ponying up $150 for a ticket through Mets.com.”
Additional reporting by Matthew Abrahams