What is up with Toronto fans?

[Bleujayone]

I went to the Skydome on Sunday to see my Red Sox take on the Blue Jays. To be honest I was rather surprised by the low crowd turnout. There were officially a little less than 29,000 people at the game. While that's not a horrible number, I would have thought it should have been better. It looked like at least a quarter of that consisted of Sox fans that like myself came from out of town. I also thought the turnout number sounded a little high- either that or quite a few people were out of their seats or didn't stay long. I checked previous games to be sure it wasn't a fluke, and while I don't expect any team to produce 50,000+ crowds every game, I would have expected better turnouts than what I read in the box scores.

The Jays organization looks like they do a tireless job promoting the hell out of the team, they did a pretty good job signing some quality players in the off-season, the Sox are a strong team and a nearby division rival, they have some good in-game promotions, and lately have been improving the stadium (better turf, outfield wall, jumbotron, ect.) that was already a nice facility. The tickets are among the cheaper in baseball. They even have a promotion called "$2 Ticket Tuesdays" so one cannot claim ticket prices are all too steep. Overall I'd say the Jays have a decent team on the field.

So I guess what I'm asking is, why on earth the Jays can't get more people in the seats? The Maple Leafs and Raptors aren't in the playoffs, football season is eons away, its the weekend, and the Dome is closed when it rains. I remember coming up other years past even when the Jays were sucking the tailpipe and they still attracted a good crowd. I always remembered Jays fans to be among some of the stronger baseball fans, but this time many seemed more....casual for lack of a better term.

I know it's still early in the year and Toronto maybe isn't quite as rabid about baseball as Boston, New York, or Chicago, but still I don't get why more people around town don't sound more stoked about the Jays- especially this year. Toronto and the surrounding area is more than big enough to support this team, so why don't they come out? I would imagine when schools are out for the summer more kids and families might turn out, but that's still a couple of months away.

Perhaps Chris can answer this better than most but I would also like to hear from others from the GTA. If not, what would you do that isn't already being done to get more people to come to Jays games?

[CC97]

Attendence is up big time at this point in the season compared to last year, and WAY up from 2002.

Reasons for a "low" turnout of 29,000 (keeping in mind the average attendence has been around 20,000 for the past five years), i'd say because it's April... teams generally don't draw well in April.

If they're still drawing this poorly two years from now while still fielding a competitive team, then i'd start scratching my head.

[Neon_Matrix]

I promise to go to a FEW games this year...granted I have money to buy tix... I am going to the $2 game against Oakland though...should be a fun game.

[CC97]

I promise to go to a FEW games this year

only a few? bah... i've already been to four

[Seadragon76]

Maybe, just maybe, the people of Toronto have realized rather quickly that the Blue Jays won't do well and they figure to not show up at the games.

[ProvidenceRI]

29000 isn't bad.

It's amazing for a turf stadium. Who the hell wants to see baseball on green mat?

They should just make a field of parquet basketball floor. j/k

[Brendan]

Because there still made about the maple leafs

[CC97]

Because there still made about the maple leafs

29,000 = 10,000 more than attendence at leafs game

[IceCap]

Maybe, just maybe, the people of Toronto have realized rather quickly that the Blue Jays won't do well and they figure to not show up at the games.

Hahahaha....no

[Brendan]

29,000 = 10,000 more than attendence at leafs game

also bigger arenas(well atleast i think so)

[Fred T. Jane]

Because there still made about the maple leafs

Why the heck would Leafs Nation being angry with the Leafs' performance result in fewer people going to Blue jays games? Completely illogical.

BTW, no offence, but F7 in MSWord should be your best friend.

[DEAD!]

Because there still made about the maple leafs

Why the heck would Leafs Nation being angry with the Leafs' performance result in fewer people going to Blue jays games? Completely illogical.

BTW, no offence, but F7 in MSWord should be your best friend.

It's not that there are FEWER people going to Jays games, it's more of why aren't there more people going to Jays games as a result of the Leafs missing the playoffs. let's all face it, Toronto is a Maple Leaf town, not a Blue Jay town, not a Raptor town, not even a hockey town. If it were a hockey town, why were there fewer than 3000 people at the Marlies PLAYOFF game last night?

[Neon_Matrix]

I promise to go to a FEW games this year

only a few? bah... i've already been to four

Well sorry Mr. "I have a job so I can go to many, many, many Jays games and drive down from the Dirty S'hwa any time I like!" but I'm stuck jobless in Peterborough for a few more days and until I get a job it will be few Jays games for me! I'd go to more but I've become hooked on Hockey Jersey collecting...so...money will be going to those things that will keep me single for a long, long time. Also I'm waiting until I'm 19 at the end of the summer to go to the 5th deck and just buy alot of beer and yell HINSKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII and watch him smack a couple of home runs. Oh the dreams I have...

[NJTank]

Attendence is always lower at the start of the season once school is out and NHL and NBA playoffs are over thats when it always picks up.

[Brendan]

Because there still made about the maple leafs 

Why the heck would Leafs Nation being angry with the Leafs' performance result in fewer people going to Blue jays games? Completely illogical.

BTW, no offence, but F7 in MSWord should be your best friend.

i was being sarcastic by the way. Who is F7 in msword anyway

[rams80]

Because there still made about the maple leafs 

Why the heck would Leafs Nation being angry with the Leafs' performance result in fewer people going to Blue jays games? Completely illogical.

BTW, no offence, but F7 in MSWord should be your best friend.

i was being sarcastic by the way. Who is F7 in msword anyway

spell check

[nsentv]

The SkyDome is too sharp not to have sellouts every single night.

[Phil]

29,000 isn't all that bad, but Toronto fans aren't all that well known for being "through thick and thin"-type fans. Hard to point out many teams that are known for this, but its especially tough in Toronto - they cover the spectrum of pro sports options, and so people have a lot of choice.

That said, Jays games are fun... and those $2 nights are ridiculous. You can't even see a Winnipeg Goldeyes game for that cheap.

[ROCHitman]

I know of one place the fans are not going....

Marlies games.

Only 2888 at Game 3 of the Grand Rapids/Toronto series on Monday.

SUre, it was a MOnday first round game, but it's still pretty pathetic .

[FiddySicks]

This shouldnt really be a huge deal. Oakland ahs the same problems at the beginning of the year, but it eventually picks up. Only a few teams sell out regularly all year like the Giants and Dodgers do (even though most Dodgers do the lame 3 to 7 thing), and id suspect other teams like the Cardinals and Yankees do, but thats about it.