I dipped your post in lemon juice and must say I agree.

Wow, only a 140% increase? Thank you Rogers, your generosity knows no bounds! :yes:

Was just on Minnesota Twins website most expensive season tickets are $27,945 at Target Field.How the hell are the Jays getting away with $137,000?

I guess the Twins don't have the amazing business acumen of Rogers driving their pricing strategy.

Even if I had the means to spend that kind of money I wouldn't do it, out of principle. It would be like pulling up to McDonalds and having the guy at the drive thru tell you that a Big Mac meal costs $350. Like, get bent buddy. No Blue Jays game ever has been, or will be worth that kind of money.

I remember when you would get a free blue jays ticket if you bought a hot dog, and no one cared when you snuck into the better seats because they were empty anyways. Surprised the Blue Jays are still drawing fans - it’s been 8 years since the Bautista/Donaldson playoff runs.

Yeah, I noticed. They're 8th in attendance this year at 35k.
This is a team that's currently in last place too and has been underperforming most of the season so far.

We also pack Maple Leafs games - we love a good losing streak around these parts!

The Jays are having not that bad of a season - they may be in last place in the AL East, but the American League, especially the East and West (save for the A's) is insanely good this year. At their current record, they'd be 2nd in the AL Central, and tied for 2nd in both the NL East and NL Central. Their home record is quite a bit better than their away record, and they've had the misfortune of a disproportionately high number of away games in the first month or so this season (due to the SkyDome renovations); their home winning percentage is better than both the Yankees and Boston right now as well, despite being behind both teams in overall winning percentage.

There's also the matter of fans being deprived of in-person games in Toronto for 1 1/2 years. I've come to appreciate in-person sports more since the pandemic; if I still lived in Toronto I'd go to more games than I used to. I've already been to 3 of their road games this year and I plan to see them in Seattle in July.

What i do find interesting is how much baseball is dying in Canada outside Toronto. Olympic Stadium in Montreal will soon revert to soccer and football only in renovation. Ottawa no team Winnipeg goldeyes might soon fold. Calgary i believe no team and ballpark to change to field house. Not sure if Edmonton still has a team?

Edmonton's team was supposed to move to a brand new stadium in Spruce Grove, which is about 30 mins from Edmonton...but the stadium has been delayed and may not be happening at all from what it I heard this week.

Not a Canadian City but a Canadian team was there. I can't find an image from Wednesday Nights game but they only filled 8500 seats, probably half being Snowbirds. This has to be the worse Baseball park in the entire MLB league. If any city needs a retractable dome it's Tampa. Keep in mind the Rays are doing amazing right now. #1 in the whole MLB.

source: https://library.sportingnews.com
https://library.sportingnews.com/202...3mko2xuprm.jpg

Florida in general is a terrible sports market.

The Rays wish they drew as well as the Lightning when they played there. (Come to think of it, they wish they drew what the Lightning draw where they play now too lol)

Edmonton has a new baseball team in the stadium downtown, the Riverhawks. They actually draw quite well. Believe it is college ball?

Gotta love the old-timey tack-ons such as where the TB logo is in centrefield, and the wrought-iron type structure above the video screen.

I'm happy Rogers didn't choose to do that with the dome. They gave it personality but in a way that suits the ballpark. I saw some mockups where people added things such as red-brick facades. Skydome is never going to be that place.

^ Considering they are of a similar vintage, Skydome has aged way more gracefully than the Suncoast Dome. Although I suspect that the TB owners are kind of poisoning the well the same way that the owners in Oakland did. It's not that hard to maintain a stadium properly if you want to keep it for the long haul... conversely, it's easy to make it look like shit if you want to get someone to build you a new one.

Winnipeg's new CEBL team started up. They drew a good crowd to their home opener which they won, a lower bowl sellout at Canada Life Centre. I was there and it was a very exciting evening capped off with a win by the home team.

But what the CEBL is doing exceptionally well for a smaller pro league is getting their product out to a mass audience. They have a TSN game of the week, and all games are available on TSN+ (which I access through my smart TV so it's like watching anything else on TV, no computer or tablet fidgeting/casting required). The games are really well done, they have some well known broadcasters like Chuck Swirsky and Rod Black calling games. My son likes the CEBL so he puts the games to keep an eye on what's going on while he does other stuff. But wouldn't you know it, I often become intrigued by the action, and end up sitting down to watch.

Sometimes I wonder if smaller leagues get too captivated by the thought of some meager dollars that come their way with obscure streaming services (One Soccer, CHL TV, AHL TV, etc.) instead of chasing a broader audience through a mainstream broadcaster. There has to be a lot of value to the CEBL in having all their games available to anyone with a TSN subscription (which has to be the vast majority of speaking sports fans at least in English Canada, not sure what the RDS situation is). At the same time, good on TSN for giving that kind of exposure to a fledgling Canadian league.

https://lirp.cdn-website.com/8d6ff7b...C6102-640w.jpg

I used to watch the games on CBC (website) last year. I just checked and it doesn't seem like they have them anymore now that TSN is on the scene.

TSN to Showcase Canadian Elite Basketball League Game of the Week, Tipping Off May 24
Mar 16, 2023

^ CBC Gem worked too. The point is that putting games on some obscure streaming service where you charge an extra X dollars to watch is hindering your league's growth in the long run. Maybe a league with an established, devoted following can get away with that, but for something like the CEBL you want as many eyeballs on the product as possible. I think the CPL could stand to take a lesson from how the CEBL is doing it.