Shapiro lays out vision for Rogers Centre in growing market

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- When SkyDome was built and opened in 1989, its existence alone was reason enough to buy a ticket and go to a Blue Jays game.

Besides, the alternative was watching the game on television. It didn’t compare to the real thing, where you could look up in awe of a retractable roof and a large video board.

Now, the Blue Jays are competing against the world for your attention. You can stay at home to watch a well-produced high-definition broadcast on your comfortable couch with cold drinks in the fridge. You can bring the game up on your phone. There are streaming services to stay home and binge-watch, bars and restaurants to visit, concerts to see and other major sports tickets in town. Toronto is one of North America’s biggest, busiest cities.

Times have changed, and the Blue Jays’ approach has had to change along with it. The new reality was at the core of Toronto’s thinking when it began a multiyear $300 million renovation to Rogers Centre. What gets a fan in 2023 to walk down the street, take the train downtown or fly into Toronto for a game?

“You need to create compelling reasons to come to a ballpark and watch,” club president and CEO Mark Shapiro said Wednesday. “Number one, always, is a competitive team and a championship-caliber team. But after that, you need to have some experiences within the ballpark that create a reason to want to be there and be in a communal environment, not just watching alone.”

What does that look like, though? Part of the Blue Jays’ approach has been to make these renovations represent the city around Rogers Centre.

“What we’re doing in the outfield is going to be one opportunity,” Shapiro said. “Some of the younger people living downtown that are within walking distance who come to our games, but probably don’t come regularly, I think we’re creating spaces. We’ll have the coolest patio in Toronto. We’ll have some of the greatest vantage points of any bar in Toronto and certainly among the most unique. We’re creating some new dynamic family opportunities and spaces.”

The 2023 season will be telling. A year ago, the Blue Jays averaged 32,763 fans per game, seventh in the Major Leagues behind the Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees, Braves, Padres and Astros. Market size and stadium size impact this, of course, but Shapiro points to the fact that they have not had a “normal” offseason since 2019-20.

Even though the organization was riding the high of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette’s debuts at that point, the team was coming off a 67-95 season with memories of those 2015 and '16 runs already fading. Toronto spent the pandemic-shortened ’20 season and much of ’21 playing out of Buffalo, N.Y., and Dunedin, so it’s difficult to get an accurate feel for ticket-buying trends during this new era of Blue Jays baseball.

When Shapiro thinks of growth, though, his mind turns to new Canadian citizens.

“What might make us different is just how international and diverse the city is and where the potential for new fans lies," Shapiro said. "Not existing fans, but new fans. What do we have to do to acquire new fans? What does the game have to look like to gain the interest of new fans? The Raptors are a great case study for an organization that’s done that.”

Few events in Toronto represent the city’s diversity better than a Raptors game. Toronto is home to large Indian, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Iranian and Jamaican populations, just to name a few from a long and growing list. As Toronto's population nears three million residents and Canada approaches 40 million, Shapiro hopes that the Blue Jays will stand out as an attractive entertainment option in the crowded market. That includes both the stadium and the sport itself.

So many of MLB’s new rules and the Blue Jays’ stadium changes are geared towards creating action. Whether it’s a stolen base, a ball taking a strange bounce off the new walls in the gap at Rogers Centre or a home run, there’s more potential for athletic “wow” moments. This is something an NBA team like the Raptors has more of naturally, given the pace of a basketball game.

“Being faster, more action-packed and more athletic, all of these things give us a better chance,” Shapiro said.

The timing lines up, too. These Blue Jays still need to perform -- that No. 1 factor Shapiro mentions -- but all of this is being done to give new fans new reasons to head downtown.