Moneyball: How the Blue Jays’ World Series run could end up paying off for Rogers

Article content

The World Series champion receives the highest percentage of the pool, followed by the World Series runner-up.

Article content

It may be hard to pinpoint exactly how much the Blue Jays pocketed from their playoff run, but we know that in 2024, the players’ portion of ticket revenue was US$129.1 million, up from US$107.8 million in 2023.

Article content

But that’s only part of the picture.

Article content

“It’s not just tickets, it’s the concessions and merchandise,” said Bart Given, a former assistant general manager of the Blue Jays from 2005 to 2009.

Article content

Anything sold online or in a third-party store is split among the 30 MLB teams. However, if you buy something at the stadium, the team receives the money. Judges by endless sea of jerseys in the crowds, merchandise sales were no doubt brisk throughout the run.

Article content

What about future ticket sales?

Article content

While the club would have booked gains from the handful of playoff games, the real profits from this run may not be felt until 2026.

Article content

Given noted few teams sell out all 81 home games, so a winning team almost always makes a difference to ticket revenue.

Article content

“You really want that money up front to keep you away from the risk of a poor season,” said Given. “There are no guarantees. You need to secure your revenue. Let’s say someone gets injured.”

Article content

Article content

Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, said the larger story is how much money the team can charge for everything in the future. “Spending also goes up because fans are staying in the stands for all nine innings if they are winning,” he said.

Article content

Sal Galatioto, President of Galatioto Sports Partners, a sports investment banking firm, said he doesn’t know the exact numbers, but a typical playoff run like this generates US$30 to $35 million in revenue. Though he said the run can’t hurt future IPO efforts, the bottom line total would be small relative the overall valuation of the team.

Article content

“It’s just not a life-changing event, one way or another, whether they went to the World Series or lost the World Series,” he said.

Article content

Richard Peddie, former CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment who also ran SkyDome, as The Rogers Centre was known at the time, said that a $400 million renovation for the stadium, which the telecom company had purchased for $25 million back in 1999, has likely paid off in part due to this success.

Article content

“They made the stadium better; it was built for multi-purpose and felt almost obsolete by the time it was opened,” said the executive, noting the renovation shrank capacity by about 6,000 seats but added more luxury seating. “Hats off to Rogers for spending the money. And now they’re getting a return on investment.”

Article content

Article content

Executive suites, valued in the thousands of dollars, were gobbled up during the season, and Rogers leveraged the sale of playoff tickets by tying them to the renewal of season tickets.

Article content

What does the run mean for television revenue?

Article content

At one point, 18.5 million people living in Canada were watching Game 7 of the World Series, surpassing all previous viewership records for the Jays in the country.

Article content

The numbers were undoubtedly helped by Rogers-owned Sportsnet having its own broadcast available nationwide and streamed online.

Article content

“Each round of the playoffs, the Rogers sales team was hitting you again. People were probably trying to buy ads (on gameday),” said Given.

Article content

That 18-inning game likely created a dilemma because buyers typically purchase a specific number of spots in the game, often at a dedicated point or inning.

Article content

“The extra innings become fill, so do they give some of their great partners an extra spot, or might they have just bonused Rogers with more ads?” said Given. “You know, Rogers won’t complain if they get more ads. It’s also not like in the summertime, people hang in to the final pitch.”