Ever since the Toronto Blue Jays wrapped up their World Series run, baseball’s popularity has significantly risen in various ways across Ontario.
With the Blue Jays drawing record numbers in viewership this postseason, many kids across Ontario have started to get into baseball.
Ethan Porter, a longtime staff member of Upper Deck Baseball Academy, said that the facility has seen an increase in business, with credit to the Blue Jays’ World Series run.
“I think as of late we’ve gotten busier than I’ve seen recently, and I think the World Series is part of that. I spoke to a couple people that came in and they were telling me about how their son’s just getting into baseball, how they were watching the Jays and now he wants to get started.”
Porter also said how quickly some of their programs filled up, and how the business side of the facility has grown since the end of the postseason.
“In terms of our programs, our program, our Sandlot program, which is like a beginner program for fundamentals, sold out almost immediately after it went up on our website. So, and then we had a waiting list a mile long of people that knew that they probably weren’t going to have a shot again just because of how popular it was, but were willing to throw their name on just in case. So, the business side of things have definitely improved and I think it’s due to the popularity that baseball has grown.”
James Belford works very closely with his son’s U16 AA baseball team and various programs in the GTA. Belford highlights the anticipated spike in registration numbers throughout these various programs simply due to baseball’s rise in popularity.
“Now you’re going to have all these minor baseball associations being like overrun by all these kids who watch the Game 7 of the World Series and, you know, how the Jays went the whole way there, and now it’s just going to turn into a big – I think it’s going to be a big boom in Canada, where you have all these kids sign up this year and like, it’ll be a boost to the economy.”
Belford also works at Play It Again Sports Brampton, and notices the increase in baseball sales and popularity in the store, saying, “It’s not just kids. Like, it’s the whole, it’s everybody. Like, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an adult, whether you’re a small child, a teenager, a youth, all these kids are coming in here asking for, do we have a Blue Jays beginner package for baseball, right? Like, you know, they’re looking for a glove. Can I get a used glove? Do you guys have baseball still?”
With this newfound popularity, you’re bound to see it on the streets with Jays fans sporting their Blue Jays merchandise.
Frank Burns, a lifelong Blue Jays fan, was overwhelmed when he’d attend school or go to work and see all the Blue Jays paraphernalia when he walks around, saying “It’s awesome. Being a Jays fan my entire life and witnessing a World Series for the first time, it’s awesome to see so many people come together for one team, it really brings not only the city together, but the country as well.”