Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer.
With all the possible neighborhoods, and all the possible neighbors that we could have had, I honestly think that we hit the jackpot with Canada.
They always have a cold beer on hand if we ever want to hang out, they are quick to lend a hand or a tool if we need some help with something, and they don’t ever complain when we play our music too loud.
Yeah, when it comes to neighbors, we’ve got it pretty good!
Just because we are neighbors, though, that doesn’t mean that we have to share EVERYTHING. And so with all due respect to our friends up North, it is time to bring Major League Baseball completely back into the United States.
To begin with, baseball is America’s national pastime. That is not to say that we own the rights to the game of baseball, and are the only people allowed to play it, but Major League Baseball is an American professional organization. It was formed over 100 years ago as an affiliation of American teams, and has become ingrained as an essential part of Americana, right up there with mothers, hamburgers, and apple pie.
The Blue Jays are even a part of the organization called the AMERICAN League!
But selfish national pride is not my only justification for the necessity of this move. Their location in Canada has them geographically isolated from every other team in baseball with Detroit being their nearest competition, and that is 245 miles away. That isolation is magnified by the fact that they are the only MLB franchise in the entire nation of Canada. The end result is a high level of fan indifference because there is no real baseball “market” to maintain fan interest.
Geography is only the first of the Blue Jay’s problems, though. The Blue Jays, which were formed in 1976 as an experiment in corporate ownership, has failed to provide any consistent value to the game of Major League Baseball. I’ll concede the fact that Toronto won World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. Excluding those two seasons, though, the Blue Jays have done virtually nothing else.
In their entire 33 year history, they have played in only FIVE postseasons (and that includes their two World Series victories). Additionally, their attendance numbers consistently rate among the lowest in all of baseball.
Through the first 20 games of the 2010 season, they are averaging only 15,000 fans per game, while the Philadelphia Phillies are averaging more than 45,000 per game. Admittedly, that total comes only one month into a very long baseball season. However, in looking back over the past ten seasons, their 2010 total thus far does not fall too far outside of what has been normal at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Since 2000, the Blue Jays BEST season attendance average came in 2008, when they averaged 29,626 fans per game – which is only 58.6 percent capacity for the ballpark. More often than not the Blue Jays fail to even sell half of their available tickets over the season. Their total gate sales for 2009 were only $52M (compare that to their Division rivals in Boston – $176M, and New York – $217M), and they are currently valued as one of the bottom ten franchises in the league.
All of those factors point to the same conclusion – the Toronto Blue Jays are struggling in Canada.
They lack a geographic rival with which to help drive fan interest, and they consequently lack the funding necessary to compete against the traditional leaders within their division. They have consistently failed to perform well enough to reach the postseason, and their attendance numbers are among the worst in all of baseball.
Canada is home to many great things, including what is arguably the best hockey on the planet (Editor’s Note: Didn’t the Olympics remove argument?). Major League Baseball, however, does not seem to fit in successfully as a part of the Canadian sports culture. The Montreal Expos packed up and left town years ago, and it is time for the Blue Jays to follow suit, and make the migration south to a warmer climate.
Great, smart, well thought out article.
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Absolutely idiotic. They should move because they play in the ‘American League’?
They’ve been 18th to 23rd in attendance most of this decade. Should all the teams that have drawn worse move too?
Toronto is also the 5th biggest city in North America, and the Blue Jays are owned by a corporation that makes billions a year, and owns a sports radio and television network that heavily features the games.
The Jays aren’t going anywhere. And nor should they.
The baseball experiment in Toronto has failed. Plain and simple.
The fact that the Blue Jays are owned by a successful company does not make them a successful business. Donald Trump (a successful businessman) has had several companies bankrupt. Success at the parent level does not guarantee success at the subsidiary level.
The Blue Jays are financially valued among the lower teams in Major League Baseball, they lack fan support, and they have no direct competition to drive fan interest. They play in a division where they are isolated (both in terms of geography AND talent), and will NEVER be able to consistently compete with teams like the Red Sox or the Yankees.
To your question about whether all teams that fail to draw attendance should move, my answer is this – if the city can show attendance figures even occasionally that rank among the best in the league, they are fine. Baseball (like everything else) is cyclical. There will be good years and bad. However, if the team is NEVER able to draw substantial attendance (in the Blue Jays’ BEST seasons they barely sell half of their tickets), they are failing as a business and should/could consider relocation.
Finally, the “American” league comment served simply to underscore the fact that the other Canadian baseball team has already packed up and left town (for our nation’s capital, no less), and that the MLB (which is unofficially regarded as an American institution) should focus on markets where they have the best OPPORTUNITY for success.
Canada is NOT one of those opportunities.
The fact is, you can’t just look at seat sales. The Blue Jays are Canada’s team. There are fans coast to coast ( just maybe not in Montreal… but no one cares about Quebec anyway.) To compare the Jays to the Sox or the Yankees is kinda ridiculous. They are Juggernauts. Don’t compare the Detroit Lions to the Patriots or the Phoenix Coyotes to to the Toronto Maple Leaf (Terrible hockey, amazing fan following and also richest team in the NHL). Point is – they’re a mediocre team that has a lot of issues. Relocation isn’t really a remedy for it though. A lot of the article is national pride on the authors part and that’s A-OK. Love where you’re from but the logic is very flawed.