How about those Blue Jays? Ratings match team record

Returning from a European vacation is always a bit of a shock, though no more shocking than learning that Rogers Sportsnet has now cornered the market on all Toronto Blue Jays games -- a dream the late Ted Rogers had the moment he bought the team.

Though the reasons for  Sportsnet claiming rights to all  Jays games  aren't quite clear, the weekend ratings do provide a few clues. 

Outside of hockey, nothing else produced the kinds of audiences that the Blue Jays did -- averaging around 500,000 a game in the second month of the season. Certainly nothing else on Sportsnet came close, which is a pretty good reason for cornering the market on baseball games in Canada.

While those numbers could certainly collapse if (or is it when?) the Jays do, the team is Sportsnet's only biggest summer asset. Now if only the Jays can figure out a way to get some of those viewers off their couches and into the Rogers Centre seats.

At the same time, hockey is working wonders for both CBC and NBC. The new Canadian ratings system has to be taken into account, but audiences in the 3 million neighbourhood for the opening two games of the Stanley Cup final are always welcome at CBC -- especially when no Canadian team is involved. 

The big surprise is that this series is selling south of the border. Its 3.5 average rating (meaning the games were seen in about 3.5 million homes) is the biggest in 11 years and helped NBC win the ratings battle on Saturday and Monday nights.

Here are the top weekend sports TV ratings on English-language television, according to BBM Canada overnight calculations:

1. NHL, Flyers at Blackhawks, Saturday, CBC: 3,164,000*

2. NHL, Flyers at Blackhawks, Monday, CBC: 2,775,000*

3. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 989,000

4. MLB, Orioles at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 581,000

5. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Monday, Sportsnet: 535,000

6. MLB, Orioles at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 527,000

7. NBA, Suns at Lakers, Saturday, TSN: 435,000

8. Auto racing, Indianapolis 500, Sunday, TSN: 356,000*

9. NBA, Magic at Celtics, Friday, TSN: 348,000

10. MLB, Orioles at Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 334,000*

11. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Sunday, TSN: 315,000*

12. Auto racing, F1 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 312,000

13. NHL, Stanley Cup preview, Saturday, TSN: 243,000

14. PGA,The Colonial final round, Sunday, Global/CBS, 201,000

15. MLB, Rangers at Twins, Sunday, Sportsnet: 187,000

* Viewers for U.S. channels not calculated.

Comments

[@JerkInTheCorner]

If they Jays are averaging half a million on TV and 10k in the concrete toilet bowl, then when is someone going to tell The Blue Jays organization that their "At the game experience" completely sucks?

The numbers don't lie. No one wants to go to the Rogers Centre even though the Jays following this year is the strongest it's been since the early 00's. Get your act together Blue Jays, have some focus groups, look into what other successful stadiums are doing that you're not. It's not rocket surgery.

[Rick Grace]

Blue Jays ratings were mediocre at best considering the huge GTA population, and the fact there is nothing else to watch this time of year.
And to show how hockey dominates, you can add up the total viewers from the 4th to 15th ranked shows, and they wouldn't equal what the Stanly Cup game drew on Saturday night.

[James]

$11 Beers keep me at home!

[Blue Jay]

If the Blue Jays concessions were significantly lower at the Rogers session, they may find a boost in attendance.

On the same note, I paid $10 for crappy $500 level seats, and there was a HUGE presence of security guards and ushers making sure NO ONE moved seats forward... in a 80% empty arena! All tickets should be cheap until they sell out the 100 and 200 level seats. DO NOT OPEN 500 level until all other seats are sold out! And offer the 100 level seats at a steal!

Why is it that 1 beer cost more than my tickets to watch the blue jays? Is blue jay and rogers management trying to tell me that 1 half pint of beer is worth more than the actual Blue Jay team itself?

[other mark]

Good to see the Jays getting some solid viewership. I watch no matter what. That being said, I truly wish Sportsnet had kept Jaime Campbell as the play by play guy. Buck is too monotone/nasal and I find that he really gravitates towards colour commentary (expecially when his partner is Rance). Campbell obviously wasn't as knowledgeable, but he called a better game and used his colour guy more effectively.

[DukeN]

Ratings numbers are a crock - no point wasting your time on this sham until they reform the system that calculates these numbers based on wild pro-rating. (eg for GTA/Toronto numbers they use 800 boxes across all of Ontario that have been in place of decades).

[BK]

The Toronto Blue Jays needs a better ticket pricing structure to attract fans to come to the ball park. They also need more limited promotional items giveaway to kids to attract families.

[Steve]

Tickets in the 100 and 200 level are grossly overpriced. I sat in similar seats to watch the Jays in Cleveland last month for less than half of what they charge in Toronto.
Cheaper tickets and concessions = lots more fans. Guaranteed!

[Jim]

Toronto is a great market for baseball, unfortunately the Jays build a "State of The Art" 1970's stadium in 1990, they need to start digging a ACTUAL ballpark at Cherry Beach if they want fans to come back, they're not stepping inside the giant concrete toilet that is the dome, and fleecing fans that show up with outrageous prices on everything does them no favours either.

[Colin Arnold]

I've been to two games this year. The ticket prices @ $71 were a little steep but assumable provided they field an entertaining team (which they have this year).

The big issue is with the ancillary or non-ticket revenue channels that Rogers relies upon. The cost of food and beverage is atrocious. Couple this with the fact that condiment dispensers are empty (I tried 4 before I found one that would dispense ketchup for my overpriced hotdog). $12 beers were served with lids that popped off under pressure of the carbonated drinks they were to preserve.

The Jays need to focus on drawing fans to the park (fan zones, virtual batting practice etc), providing incentives for fans to return more than once. They need to jetison the practice of charging exorbitent prices simply because they can and position their prices more to the MLB median than the top percentile.

At the end of the day, field a competitive team and the fans will come. If you want happy fans, you'll take heed that $25 for 2 draft beers (exploding lids no charge) will not turn many frowns upside down.

[me.yahoo.com/a/wSL5R04AxI2bI91abDoN6rpAgS6jYg--]

"And to show how hockey dominates, you can add up the total viewers from the 4th to 15th ranked shows, and they wouldn't equal what the Stanly Cup game drew on Saturday night." - I can tell just by glancing through the numbers that statement is untrue. Why do people make things up?

[joe]

I love watching Blue Jays baseball regardless of where they are in the standings.

[Dave]

Such a scam..that it's impossible to watch the jays without cable.
you can by MLB.TV, but they won't let you watch Toronto games in Canada.

I'll be listening to the radio.

[dan]

Give away free hot dogs.

mmmm hot dogs

[Gus Bolin]

I use to go to 8-10 games a year, but because of the security gaurds sucking all the fun out of the place, I now go to 1-2 a year and watch the rest on TV were I can yell at Overbay without having a security gaurd telling me to be quiet.

[Mark]

The ratings are now done by people meters and not the old box type measuring so they are much more accurate now than in the past. Rogers has to be kicking themselves. 530000 watch on tv but 11000 actually show up? Seems like the atmosphere and their employees are doing a bang up job attracting people to the stadium.

[Mike Dunn]

Agree with the writer on Buck's monotone/nasal commentary. Next time you listen, think Bob Hope.

[Tanks Ted!]

Have not been to a game in two years since the price of tickets of the nosebleeds doubled in price. Price use to be $7, cheaper for flex packs. Now it's $14 for most weekend games or when the yankees/red sox are in town. Concessions are outrageously over priced. For the most part the team is mediocre at best, although they seem to be doing okay this past month.

So Thanks Ted! for changing the name of the place, raising prices. I might go to another game when it's changed back to SkyDome again, prices are cheaper and when the team is good enough.

[The Duffer]

... and just when I was thinking that I might go down to the dome to catch a game, too. $11 for a beer? Thanks guys for reminding me why I DON'T want to bother going to see a game.

[ILM]

Aside from all of the problems mentioned by others (which are all good reasons to stay away from the Rogers centre), another reason fans are staying home is connected to the larger problem of traffic in the city and on the Gardiner, which the city continues to ignore. When the dome was built, one of the stipulations was that it still needed to be easily accessible for fans in the GTA (where the majority of the fan base for the team is). In the past few years, the average time to drive down to a game has almost doubled, causing long time seasons tickets holders and other casual fans from the further regions to stay home. Why would you spend two hours driving from Milton and most likely an hour and a half back to pay outrageous prices when you could watch the game from home? Moreover, alternatives like public transit are underdeveloped and/or expensive. With the exception of GO transit's Lakeshore line, the others barely run after rush hour. Even if you decided to take the train from Oakville (which only leaves once per hour except in rush hour), a round trip costs just over twelve dollars per person, which particularly is taxing on families given the cost of jays tickets. Driving to and from Oakville to Toronto and parking in one of the distant 5$ lots would still only cost about 8 or 9 dollars for a family once the gas is factored in. The ratings show that there is interest--but why would you commit all of that time and effort on a consistent basis when there are other, more affordable options for family entertainment?

[Ryan M.]

"Overpriced concessions"? Really?? THAT'S your reason for not going???

Have you been to Air Canada Centre lately? How about BMO Field? For that matter, i don't hear people talking about what a bargain it is to eat at the movies these days.

The team has brought in much better food in the last season or two. Pity no one mentions that.

As for security being the preventers of fun, nine times out of ten they are responding to a complaint. So blame your fellow Torontonians, not the people just there to do a job.

And really? The Stadium is a "concrete toilet bowl"?? I chalk that up to people thinking the grass is always greener, and I'm betting you never went to a game at Olympic Stadium...or even Shea Stadium before they knocked it down.

Sure, moving out of the joint just 21 years after it opened might seem like a solution...but are you then telling me you won't complain when our taxes get raised to pay for it?

And of course YOU will be the one sitting and cheering your lungs out on a -10 degree April night game by the lake, right?

Come on people - stop complaining and just go enjoy a game. Things can always be better, but things could be So much worse.

[David Wright]

I'm a big Blue Jays fan. But my consumption of Blue Jays is through radio, MLB iPhone app and the web.

I actually live about a 5 minute walk from the SkyDome but I haven't been to a single game.

It's just too pricey for beers and tickets. 500 level seats are ok for $12, but add in a couple beers and a hot dog for me and my wife and I'm at $75 for a single game. So it's just not cost effective.

Also I don't consider the live viewing of a game anything special when there are 162 of them (81 at home) throughout the year.

[Andru]

I don't mind the rogers center in general but here's a problem I have. I'm 40 years old. Yes 40. last year. I jumped on the go train from ajax with my cash, ticket and credit card. I had dinner at a local pub ( no drinks it's not going where you think it's going )

So I get to the game, My buddies are late. so I stop at the concession stand to get a beer. "Hi sir do you have ID?" Uhmm NO. ( haven't been asked in 10 years ironically it was at the rogers center the last time I was asked WHEN I WAS 30!! )

So I said look I'm 40 really please just pour me a beer. "No sir I'm sorry I have to see ID" this coming from a girl who could be my daughter. Not because I'm intoxicated, not because I'm being rude. I can't prove I'm 40!!!!

Needless to say I haven't been back since.. This isn't about beer or buying beer this is the general sentiment of the atmosphere in that building. It's stale, structured and dull.

[Aaron]

Perhaps Rogers should stop charging premium prices for non-competitive teams.

[Bob]

To a longtime baseball fan, Buck Martinez is a much better announcer than Jamie Campbell. He might have a nasal voice but he's a thousand times more knowledgeable. I think that he works extremely well with Tabler. The change from Campbell to Martinez is a prime reason for the successful Rogers ratings.

Campbell, by the way, was often regarded as the worst announcer in the game.