MLB: Blue Jays Welcomed to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

To the average baseball fan, news of the sale of the Toronto Blue Jays probably isn’t a big deal. To Canadian sports fans however, it is important. The announcement came last week that Interbrew SA was selling 80% of its controlling interest in the Jays.

The buyer was none other than Canadian media mogul Ted Rogers. Rogers has drawn comparisons to Atlanta’s Ted Turner, a media visionary with the business savvy to match. What Rogers will bring to the table as far as capital is concerned is undeniable. He spent $112 million American in acquiring his share of the club without the bat of an eyelash, and promises to spend what is necessary to field a winner.

This is where it gets exciting if you’re a Blue Jay fan or happen to live in the greater Toronto area. The fact that the team is now owned by the same man who runs a virtual Canadian media monopoly means we can expect to see the Jays in a way we never have before. Sure the team has had its share of the spotlight in Canada, being that its one of only two big league ball clubs in the whole country, but now a new set of doors are opening.

Canadians will be inundated with Blue Jay coverage night and day. Some in this country say we already are, but I think we’ve yet to really experience the same kind of saturation Braves fans receive now.

Whatever negative stigma you want to attach to the term “saturation”, I think high-volume exposure in the case of the Blue Jays is a welcome change and should usher in a new era of Blue Jay dominance. Ted Rogers is a man who does not like to lose, which is in evidence when you look at all he’s accomplished. Like Ted Turner, he will pay to put a winner in front of the viewing public.

It would be foolish to think that a media kingpin like Rogers would buy a baseball team and not promote it to death in all the various forms of said media Rogers owns. Turner took over the Braves and made them a feature product on his very own ‘TBS Superstation. Which led to the realization that it would be really smart to have a good team for people to watch on TV, a World Series winner is good for ratings, you see. Turner has spent the money to keep the Braves competitive and in so doing has built a strong following and vast television market to boot.

Don’t think Ted Rogers hasn’t been watching.

If Mr. Rogers is successful in his bid to acquire the Canadian sports network, Sportsnet, expect to see a large chunk of it’s programming to revolve around the Toronto Blue Jays. Not to mention all the other cable stations Rogers’ controls. Since Rogers is also Canada’s largest cable provider and high-speed internet pioneer, Canadians can also expect to see ad after ad featuring his new team. The man is a marketing master, one can only imagine what he has cooked up.

“Tonight on your local access cable network it’s ‘Cooking with David Wells’. Followed by ‘Pumping Iron with Brad Fullmer’. Tomorrow start your day off right with ‘Jim Fregosi’s Garden Chat’ and for the kiddies ‘Happy Storytime with Billy Koch’.

Exaggeration? I think not, the Jays will be under the microscope like never before. We’re likely to hear everything from Shannon Stewart’s favorite color (I’m betting on green) to Carlos Delgado’s favorite ABBA record (I’m going with “Voulez-Vous” on this one).

“Need a new cell phone? Get the John Frascatore 2000 today! This new wireless cell takes a swing at you when you give it a command.”

“Tonight on a very special ‘NYPD Blue’, Sipowicz is called in to investigate why Dave Martinez never played like this before. Then on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ the search is on for Chris Carpenter’s talent. It’s been missing since last February.”

Of course these are just light-hearted examples of Rogers’ media clout, but in all seriousness the man will be forced to promote the team he owns, since he also owns so much of what Canadians regularly tune into. Not that he wouldn’t want to show off his shiny new team anyway, but it will mean that the team will always have to be close to the top. A man with his reputation and clout would rather forego the embarrassment of showcasing a sub-par product on a regular basis.

This means that the Blue Jays have a chance of returning to their late-eighties, early-nineties form which included two World Series victories. At that time the Jays always seemed to have enough cash lying around to just pick up whatever free agent happened to be available at the time. Whether it was Dave Parker, Dave Whinfield, Paul Molitor, or Jack Morris; the team could always count on someone being signed to help the club reach the next step. In those days the SkyDome was perpetually full, breaking major league attendance records. Today Rogers has taken on the task of bringing the fans back to the stadium, but first he must build a winner. Sure, this year the Blue Jays are in the wildcard hunt but they’ve gotten there with only one reliable pitcher.

The Toronto bats have been great but you don’t win without pitching. Hopefully Rogers will follow Turner in this respect to. Ted Turner built a dream pitching staff in Atlanta almost a decade ago, and watched as his team became annual World Series favorites. Even today the Braves boast a robust rotation and look like they’re ready for a postseason run (if they could just dust off those pesky Mets first!).

I think you get the idea, a media tycoon owning a pro sports franchise is usually a bastion for success. It’s the thing that keeps the Greg Maddux’s of the world from flying elsewhere, and hopefully what will keep, possible AL MVP, Carlos Delgado from heading south, should the opportunity ever arise. Money talks and since Major League Baseball still doesn’t have a salary cap, Ted Rogers has most of Canada’s attention.