Blue Jays hit the heights. Too bad about Friday's game.

Now here's a rarity on the summer sports scene: A Toronto Blue Jays game managed to draw more viewers than a Canadian Football League contest.

Granted, the CFL game was a dog with fleas, but still this doesn't happen very often. But as happy as the folks at Rogers Communications must be at seeing their team draw an average of 713,000 for last Friday's game against the Boston Red Sox, they have to be girding their loins for the viewer onslaught they will face Friday.

That's the next Jays game scheduled for Sportsnet One, the new channel that's available only on Rogers and to the 4,000 homes that subscribe to Cable Cable in Fenelon Falls, Ont. Yes, that breakthrough is the only cable deal Rogers has managed to secure for its new cash-grab channel, meaning more than half the country can't watch Friday's game at this point.

Sportsnet Junior's first week of Jays games drew flies, so you can be sure viewer outrage will be high as hundreds of thousands of Jays fans find that once again they've been shut out..

While Rogers is trying to get itself out of the mess it created with Sportsnet One, the CFL has to be a little worried about Friday's numbers. An age-old traditional rivalry between two teams based in the country's most populous region should be doing a lot better than 650,000 viewers -- even if it almost a touchdown-free game.

Here are the most-watched sports events on English-language televison over the past weekend, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:

1. MLB, Blue Jays at Red Sox, Saturday, Sportsnet: 713,000

2. CFL, Tiger-Cats at Argos, Friday, TSN: 650,000

3. MLB, Blue Jays at Red Sox, Friday, Sportsnet: 558,000

4. MLB, Blue Jays at Red Sox, Sunday, Sportsnet: 441,000

5. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Saturday, TSN: 347,000*

6. NFL, Vikings at 49ers, Sunday, TSN: 267,000*

7. PGA, Wyndham Championship final round, Sunday, Global/CBS: 234,000

8. MLS, New York at Toronto FC, Saturday, CBC: 182,000

9. Tennis, ATP Cincinnati final, Sunday, TSN: 178,000*

10. PGA, Wyndham Championships third round, Saturday, Global/CBS: 171,000

11. Athletics, Diamond League track and field, Saturday, CBC: 149,000

12. Tennis, Rogers Cup, Friday, TSN: 137,000

* Viewers for U.S. networks not calculated

Little love for Toronto FC on television -- yet

The CBC had better be right about Major League Soccer.

The people's network recently jettisoned the Raptors because it felt ratings weren't quite good enough to justify those weekend time slots. On the other hand, it expressed deep and abiding love for Toronto FC, which would give its left halfback to get the kind of ratings the Raptors drew.

Witness Saturday's poor draw, the latest in a series of poor ratings for the MLS club.Since its inception, the Toronto team has been a major hit at the gate and a semi-disaster on television.

But this isn't a case of the CBC not realizing that ratings aren't calculated like golf. Low numbers are bad, not good, in the TV game.

The CBC's faith in TFC stems from its belief that adding two more teams in Canada over the next two years will ignite interest in MLS. A Toronto team that barely draws flies on television will see ratings soar once it has more Canadian rivals in Vancouver and Montreal is how the CBC sees it.

It could happen. But it also could be a repeat of what we saw when there were two NBA franchises here: Apathy.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the CFL continues to dominate the summer ratings, though a near perfect game and a late playoff run by the Toronto Blue Jays helped their numbers soar.

Here are the most-watched sports events on English-language television over the weekend, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:

1. CFL, Blue Bombers at Tiger-Cats, Saturday, TSN: 858,000

2. CFL, Roughriders at Alouettes, Friday, TSN: 853,000

3. CFL, Stampeders at Lions, Saturday, TSN: 795,000

4. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnets: 760,000

5. CFL, Argonauts at Eskimos, Friday, TSN: 649,000

6. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 493,000

7. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Sunday, TSN: 448,000

8. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 446,000*

9. PGA, Bridgestone Invitational final round, Sunday, Global/CBS: 339,000

10. NFL, Bengals vs. Cowboys, Sunday, TSN: 305,000**

11. PGA, Bridgestone Invitational third round, Saturday, Global/CBS: 255,000

12. Auto racing, NASCAR Nationwide, Satuday, TSN: 182,000

13. MLB, Red Sox at Yankees, Sundady, TSN2: 164,000

14. MLS, Chivas at Toronto FC, Saturday, CBC: 134,000

* 3 channels only

** Ratings for NBC not calculated

Surprise ratings for NBA, boxing and the CFL draft

It should surprise nobody that this year's Stanley Cup playoffs are producing huge ratings in Canada. There are two home teams involved and the hockey has been as good as any and better than most.

But CBC, TSN and RDS aren't the only ones enjoying the benefits of all this. Both Versus and NBC are reporting double-digit ratings jumps. Even  the presence of a Canadian team on Sunday afternoon didn't stop NBC from posting a 14 per cent increase over last year.

Big numbers for hockey in Canada are nothing new, so let's take a look at some of the surprises. There were some good ones -- namely the NBA, boxing and the CFL -- and one bad one -- Toronto FC.

The NBA hasn't been treated very well by Canadian television, with playoff games bouncing from channel to channel and being relegated to the likes of Raptors NBA TV, TSN2 and The Score. Nothing wrong with those channels, but they don't have the reach of TSN or Rogers Sportsnet.

Regardless, two weekend games still managed to score some decent audiences. Friday's Lakers-Thunder game hhit 246,000 on TSN while Sunday's Bucks-Hawks showdown drew 194,000 to TSN2.

The death of boxing has been predicted for years now, but obviously those reports have been premature. A pre-fight special on the Mosely-Mayweather bout hit 433,000 viewers for TSN on Saturday night -- up against hockey. Not bad.

And how about the CFL draft. In only its second year on TV, it doubled its audience to 119,000 on TSN Sunday afternoon. Imagine what it could do if the show went beyond talking heads and commissioner Mark Cohon's smiling announcements.

A few more cameras in a few more war rooms and a few more players would be welcome.

As for Toronto FC, who can explain the fact its game against Real Salt Lake on Sunday evening drew a paltry 25,000 viewers. Yes, the game was on only two Sportsnet channels (Ontario and Pacific) and it was up against hockey, but Slap Chop infomercials draw better than that.

 Here are the top weekend sports offerings, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:

1. NHL, Canucks at Blackhawks, Saturday, CBC: 2,887,000

2. NHL, Canadiens at Penguins, Friday, CBC: 2,476,000

3. NHL, Canadiens at Penguins, Sunday, CBC: 1,666,000*

4. NHL, Red Wings at Sharks, Sunday, TSN: 1,460,000

5. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 1,045,000

6. NHL, Flyers at Bruins, Saturday, TSN: 833,000*

7. NHL, Sharks-Wings pre-game show, Sunday, TSN: 502,000

8. Boxing, Mayweather-Mosely special, Saturday, TSN: 433,000

9. Golf, PGA Quail Hollow Championship final round, Sunday, Global/CBS: 305,000

10. MLB, A's at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 275,000

11. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Saturday, TSN: 257,000*

12. MLB, A's at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 251,000

13. NBA, Lakers at Thunder, Friday, TSN: 246,000

14. MLB, A's at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 243,000

15. OHL, Barrie at Windsor, Sunday, Sportsnet: 208,000

16. NBA, Bucks at Hawks, Sunday, TSN2: 194,000

17. Soccer, Tottenham at Bolton, Saturday, Sportsnet: 123,000

18. CFL, College draft, Sunday, TSN: 119,000

* Viewers on U.S. channels not calculated

Soccer, TFC at Salt Lake, Saturday, Sportsnet: 25,000**

** Ontario and Pacific channels only

OTHER STUFF: A tip of the cap goes to Rogers Sportsnet reporter Arash Madani, who created a stir around the CFL Saturday by breaking the Toronto-Saskatchewan pre-draft trade. Madani has obviously benefited from the contacts he established while working for CFL teams a few years back. ... You never know what The Score is going to do next. The channel has struck a partnership with entertainment paper t.o.night. Under the deal, Score on-air types will write for the paper while promoting it on the air. It seems like a rather unusual pairing, but you can't say The Score doesn't think outside the box.

FC on TV

CBC will be the main carrier for Toronto FC this season, broadcasting 11 of the team's 30 Major League Soccer games starting with the home opener on April 1.

Rogers Sportsnet will air 10, while the MLSE-owned GolTV digital channel has nine. Fox Sports World Canada has one game on its schedule. At this point, one game will be shown on tape delay.

Nigel Reed will return to call CBC games along with analyst Jason De Vos. Gerry Dobson and Craig Forrest will be behind the microphones for Sportsnet.

All of FC's games will also be carried on radio or the Internet for the first time. Dan Dunleavy and Bob Iarusci will handle the games on The FAN 590 (17) or the FAN's website (13).

Now, if only TV viewers could match the enthusiasm of those at the stadium. FC games are good entertainment, but for some reason ratings remain dismally low. Having Vancouver in the league in a couple of years will help.