Jays winning on the field and on the tube

The folks who inhabit the big offices at the Rogers compound in downtown Toronto must be feeling pretty good these days as they dream of a possible pennant run by their baseball team. Heck, if the Toronto Blue Jays can draw big audiences when they're struggling to hold on to third place, imagine what they could do if they actually took a run at a division title or wild-card spot.

Saturday's game against the lowly Washington Nationals drew 340,000 viewers -- not far behind the most-watched events of the week, on a Saturday afternoon evening. Jays ratings are up 15 per cent on Rogers Sportsnet and could climb even higher if the Jays keep hanging in there.

Here are the weekend  English-Canadian sports ratings, according to BBM Nielsen Media Research overnight figures:

1. Golf, U.S. Open third round, Sunday, TSN: 489,000*

2. Hockey, NHL Awards, Thursday, CBC: 459,000

3. Golf, U.S. Open second round, Saturday, TSN: 410,000*

4. Baseball, Blue Jays at Nationals, Saturday, Sportsnet: 340,000

5. Baseball, Blue Jays at Nationals, Sunday, Sportsnet: 298,000

6. Auto racing, F1 British Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 202,000

7. Auto racing, NASCAR Nationwide series, Saturday, TSN: 142,000

8. Boxing, Diaconu vs. Pascal, Sunday, TSN: 121,000

9. Soccer, Spain vs. South Africa, Saturday, CBC: 105,000

10. Soccer, Vancouver vs. Montreal, Saturday, CBC: 75,000

* Viewers on NBC not calculated.

Comments

[wonder]

Queen's Plate rating??

[Billy Biroux]

Big numbers for the Blue Jays? They averaged just over 300,000 viewers natioanlly for two games. Big deal. The CFL and hockey would consider those horrible ratings. Wonder what all the other baseball drew on Sportsnet? Didn't make the top ten, so it must have been pitiful. Amazing what a drop off there is in sports viewing once hockey finishes eh? Add up all the ratings for last week, and it doesn't come close to what a single Stanley Cup final game drew. .

[Sean]

The Jays game on Saturday was on at 7pm EST, not exactly afternoon...

[John Sub]

Saturday's Blue Jays game was a night game not an afternoon game

[Matt]

yeah Berezin (or Billy B or Tony S who knows), we get it. You don't like anything you think is "American" so you feel the need to constantly slag it. Curiously, that doesn't include the New York based NHL, or the primarily American CFL, but whatever.

340,000 for a game against the most pitiful team in the league is actually pretty good. More than what I would have suspected.

As for your comparisons to the CFL, the Jays play 6, sometimes 7, times a week and still are averaging 325,000 on Sportsnet. Now that ignores TSN games, which have historically drawn higher numbers than RSN, the fact that some games aren't national this year, and that the majority of division games against big draw rivals (like BoSox and NY) are later in the season. Compared to the CFL where teams play only once a week and have the benefit of both being from Canada. They average 397,000. I'd bet that if you add up all the unique viewers of a Jays game over a full week, it would be more than 397,000.

Chris, any insight into the golf numbers. How much did all the rain or Tiger being 10 back at one point affect it? Are they up or down from last year?

[Mike]

489+459+410+340+298+202+142+121+105+75 = 2.641 Million

Actually, I'm pretty sure that beats all hockey playoff games with the lone exception of game 7.

But yes, there is a drop off. Most casual sports people only watch hockey playoffs and barely anything else. This is Canada, after all.

[Tabber]

Yup, amazing how the ratings drop when the weather heats up and people want to be outside. Wow, some of you have no sense of perspective or the relative decreases in all TV viewing in the summer. That's okay, you just stay in your delusional worlds and don't worry about the real world, it's going on without you.

[JJ]

I think the fact that a mid-June baseball game between Toronto and the brutal Nationals on Sportsnet averaged about 1/3 of a solid CBC Hockey Night in Canada match up would have to be considered big. Certainly not worth putting down, anyway.

I don't get the defensive attitude of certain Canadian hockey fans like Billy. Some seem to almost actively root against the support of anything other than hockey. Yes, by far hockey is the most popular sport in Toronto. But there's plenty of hardcore baseball, basketball, soccer and football fans to go around.

[JJ]

I think the fact that a mid-June baseball game between Toronto and the brutal Nationals on Sportsnet averaged about 1/3 of a solid CBC Hockey Night in Canada match up would have to be considered big. Certainly not worth putting down, anyway.

[Billy Biroux]

Yeah Matt, or Mike or whatever you call yourself today. Just don't get the rah rah for baseball, when their ratings are pitiful for a Toronto team. The Leafs do bigger numbers on Sportsnet then the Jays, and they only get to show their games in a small part of Ontario. And CFL is on 3 to 4 days a week sometimes. Yet they still do bigger numbers then the Jays, even with blackouts in effect. And I won't even mention how pitiful non Blue Jays games do. Which also never gets mentioned. I am sick and tired of hockey and the CFL getting ragged on all the time, while with baseball its rah rah rah. The truth hurts though, doesn't it Mattie???

[JohnnyKnowItALL]

I agree with Billy Biroux. Baseball is what you watch when you have trouble sleeping.

[Mike]

Wow, a lot of anger there Billy. I'm not sure who your rant was mainly directed at but I'll respond. BTW, I'm not "the rah rah" (wtf?) for anything, I'm just don't completely hate some sports in favour of others.

But explain how are the Jays numbers pitiful? They're the #2 rated team in Toronto, what does that make all of the others? (Now I know you'll mention the Argos but they play against another Canadian team so all of those fans are also watching. The closest the Jays get to that is when they play against a team like Boston, which has a large following out East, or NY, which has fans all over, and those numbers go over 400 maybe 500,000)

Yes, the Leafs get better ratings on TSN and CBC but no one here has questioned that. Thanks for adding a red-herring.

CFL might be on 3 days a week, but Matt was referring to each TEAM. They play once. I believe the blackout is rarely used (maybe twice a season) and the ratings do go down significantly when it's in place. That's why is not used much.

Why talk about non-Toronto games? You'll see a similar drop off for non-Canadian NHL games, I guess those are pitiful too.

I find the funniest thing about this is that no one here ragged on either sport you mentioned. You started slagging and then got defensive when you were called out. I don't know, maybe the truth does hurt. Is that why you're so angry Billy?

[JJ]

But Blue Jays ratings are not pitiful. Yup, they're not as good as hockey, nothing is in Toronto. But theres a deep base of fans that watch here. Baseball on the radio does very well too. Nobody in their right mind would say that 350,000 for a meaningless game in June is anything but good. Do you know what Raptor games get, for example?

It's OK if you hate baseball, but dude a lot of people in Toronto like it. Especially considering the team hasn't had a sniff at the playoffs in 15 years. So go ahead and hate it, but don't say that good ratings are actually bad just because you can't stand the game.

[Matt]

Whatever, Berezin. I won't bother responding to your dribble since others have already done a good job.

But I will make this point: You say you hate it when people disparage sports you watch but the only reason you post is to attack other sports and those fans. That makes you a complete hypocrite.

[Billy Biroux]

Enough of the rah rah for baseball. All we do is rag on our great Canadian sports. How many times did I read how badly the Stanley Cup finals were doing? But you compare it to its competition, it destroys its competition. And since the finals have ended, TV numbers have collapsed. Jays are doing 300,000 nationally with nothing else on as far as sports goes in this entire country until the CFL sesason stars. Thats pretty sad if you ask me. But nationally, baseball is on the way out. And I follow Canadian sports. I'm pro-Canadian. As are millions like me in the silent majority. I ain't anti American. Why you come to that strange conclusion is beyond me??

[JJ]

If not sure if it's worth arguing with you, but...

Are you seriously saying that because the ratings for a June Blue Jays game against the Washington Nationals are lower than the ratings for the Stanley Cup finals, that means that the Jays numbers are pathetic?

Just for a comparison, check this out:
http://forum.canucks.com/lofiversion/index.php/t222973.html

From Jan 09
"The Maple Leafs still rank as TSN's leading audience producer among the Canadian NHL teams, but an average viewership of 609,000 marks a decline of 18 per cent from last season.

Regional audiences on Rogers Sportsnet also reflect team performances. The Leafs' average of 321,000 is down 22 per cent from last year. Audiences for another losing team, the Senators, have dropped 33 per cent, to 67,000 a game.

Numbers for the Vancouver Canucks are down 8 per cent (227,000 viewers). For the Flames (135,000) and Oilers (146,000), audiences are up 15 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively."

So, sorry....but what in the world is pathetic about the Jays getting 300,000 for a June game against the Nationals?

[JJ]

By the way, if you're so hellbent on watching something Canadian, why don't you watch the game tonight. Scott Richmond, a Canadian, is starting for the Jays against Canadian Joey Votto and the Reds.

[Mike]

What good is it to compare hockey to other sports? That does nothing. We all know hockey is in a league of it's own.

Calling Jays numbers pitiful because hockey beats it would be like saying any mid-size company is pitiful because it's not as big/profitable as RIM. Apples and Oranges.

Honestly, I think you've taken it personally that the playoff numbers were down slightly and desperately feel the need to retaliate against all others. Do you work for CBC Sports?

BTW, up 15% means on it's way out? Were your spinning lessons taught by the Republican party?

And I would consider the US Open last weekend to be competition.

[Billy Biroux]

When the jays actually win the weekend ratings then wake me up. But as far as I can see, they're nothing more then a middle of the pack sport. They drew much smaller ratings then golf and the NHL awards, and were barely above car racing. They're nothing more then a Toronto team with a few fans in other provinces. And the TV numbers reflect that fact. Its probably the same 300,000 watching every game in my opinion.

[chris]

Nice of you to wait until after everything dies down so that you can have the last word, huh Billy? Face it, sports that don't fit your narrow minded Canadiana view are here to stay. And guess what? There's a growing appetite for these sports in this free country that we call Canada. So grow up and deal with it!