After a marathon 15-inning game in Seattle, it is official, the Seattle Mariners will face off with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship series.

Having lived in the Metro Vancouver region my whole life, I have constantly found myself surrounded by a mix of Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays fans. Now, with the two teams facing off, I have taken some time to reflect on my own fandom of the Seattle Mariners and on my own hypothesis regarding why Vancouver-based Blue Jays fans are who they are (fans of Rogers’ team).

The Origins of My Mariners Fandom

Living in Vancouver, BC, I have always remained (and always will remain) a diehard fan of the Seattle Mariners. My fandom has existed as long as I can remember and typically I trace it back to the following:

• Personal Experience – Driving down to Seattle for a Mariners game a couple times every summer is a tradition that my family has instilled in me. This is a tradition that is affordable, accessible, and fun!
• Seattle’s Proximity – Geographically and culturally, Vancouver and Seattle are really close. Driving to the Mariners home stadium (T-Mobile Park, formerly Safeco Field), can take as little as 2.5 hours, and once you arrive you find yourself in a place that has a feel highly similar to what exists in Vancouver.
• The Players – For the first 20 years of my life, the Mariners failed to make the playoffs, only finally cementing a playoff berth in the year that I turned 21 . And yet, there was always something about the team’s players that I loved. In my early years, it was Ichiro, the Japanese import who used his play to state “Japanese players belong in the MLB.” Once Ichiro left, it was The King (Felix Hernandez), a Cy Young winner who gave his heart and entire career to Seattle, in spite of the team perpetually letting him down. And, in recent years, it has been the young phenom Julio Rodriguez, a young player who burst onto the scene in 2022, leading the team to its first playoff berth of my life.
• The Community – While I am not generally an active contributor in this space, I definitely identify as being part of the Seattle Mariner’s fan community. My general channels for engagement have been Lookout Landing, a Mariners SB Nation fan community, and @mariners.center on instagram, a Mariners fan account that I have followed forever. Lookout Landing has given me a space to engage with thoughtful like-minded fans who have remained loyal to the team throughout its hardships and to learn about life and baseball; and Mariners Center is an account that has influenced my views on the team and that has grown in a variety of ways alongside myself and my fandom of this team.

Exploring “Canadian” Blue Jays Fandom

While I do have friends here in Vancouver who are Seattle Mariners fans, it has always kind of pissed me off just how many people in Vancouver are Blue Jays fans.

Experiences With Vancouver-Based Blue Jays Fans

As a Mariners fan in Vancouver (and as a Canadian) nothing annoys me more than the annual trip that many Vancouver-based Blue Jays fans make to Seattle when the Mariners face the Jays at home. Having attended a few games myself (with Blue Jays fan friends), I have found that the Blue Jays fans in attendance, do not always showcase the best of what Canada has to offer. This has left myself, someone who considers themselves a pretty proud Canadian, frustrated with the impression that these fellow Canadians leave upon our close neighbours.

(With this statement, I do want to make a caveat that I know my viewpoint here is definitely biased, and state that I understand that the actions of a few are not representative of a population. However, I also want to note that not everyone always remembers that second point.)

Questioning the Fandoms of My Blue Jays Fan Friends

Oftentimes, a question that I ask my Blue Jays fan friends is “Why are you a Blue Jays fan?”

The typical response is along the lines of “The Blue Jays are Canada’s team, and I am Canadian, therefore I am a Blue Jays fan.” While I understand this argument, I have always found it a bit odd, because as I mentioned, I strongly identify with being Canadian and do not feel obliged to be a fan of the Blue Jays.

My suspicion, is that the reason so many people in Vancouver are Blue Jays fans is not because of this argument, but rather because Rogers holds a near-monopoly on MLB baseball in Canada.

Monopolies are situations where a party holds exclusive possession of the supply of a resource. My view is that Rogers holds near exclusive possession over access to watching MLB games in Canada.

To make my argument, below I discuss the three main avenues for watching live baseball in Canada:

• Watching Baseball on a Screen via Broadcast Television – The only games that are regularly displayed on broadcast television are Toronto Blue Jays games broadcasted by SportsNet. Both the Blue Jays and SportsNet are owned by Rogers. Oftentimes SportsNet is packaged in premium television cables or purchased by sports fans as it is Canada’s largest sports broadcaster.
• Watching Baseball on a Screen via a Streaming Service – If you want to consistently watch a team that is not the Blue Jays in Canada, the only real option is MLB.TV, a streaming service offered by the MLB that costs ~$200 per year.
• Watching Baseball at an MLB Stadium – Within Canada, the only MLB Stadium is the Rogers Centre in Toronto, here you can watch the Blue Jays take on their opponents.

Because many more households and consequently individuals in the region have access to SportsNet than MLB.TV (with SportsNet being much more accessible than MLB.TV), it quickly becomes obvious that the Blue Jays dominate the MLB landscape in Canada, because Rogers basically owns the MLB media landscape in Canada.

So while Vancouver-based Blue Jays fans might think they are fans of “Canada’s Team”, in my opinion they are really only fans of “Rogers’ Team” because of Rogers’ strategic actions in framing and presenting the team as “Canada’s Team.”

As a student of business strategy, I must say that Rogers’ strategy surrounding how they utilize these strategic assets in concert is very impressive, and given the current geopolitical landscape, I do not think this monopoly will be broken anytime soon (though I do think it can be, so @Mariners, please contact me and I would be happy to help devise and execute a strategy to accomplish this).

Looking Forward

I am beyond excited and nervous for the series ahead.

This is going to be the first time the Mariners play in the ALCS in my entire life and I really do believe that this team has what it takes to get to the World Series.

This is such a privileged nervousness I feel, and for that I am very grateful.

As a great man once said

Might as well go win the whole ******* thing.

GOMS 🔱