Stadium reno won’t impress the fans if Jays don’t produce
Wins higher on wish lists than cup holders
What does US$400 million in stadium renovations buy the Toronto Blue Jays?
It buys seats with cup holders! (Some of them, anyways.)
It buys seats that are pointed toward the pitcher’s mound and home plate rather than the centre of the old, long-abandoned football field.
It buys fancy club areas (to be opened later in the season, mind you) and inflated ticket prices, an unwelcome burden for a fan base that’s as skeptical as we’ve seen in more than a decade.
But the big question, of course — the most significant one — is whether it will help create an actual home-field advantage. The Jays could use that, and if the team is going to find fans willing to pay the jacked-up prices it will cost to get into the aging downtown dome, it may be imperative.
Outside of how the home team fares, all things considered, the new-look Rogers Centre that will be unveiled for Monday’s home opener against the Seattle Mariners will be the slickest in franchise history.
It will feel as close as possible to a sport specific baseball stadium than the uncomfortable hybrid it’s been since the team took residence in what was then known as the Skydome in 1989.
“In every way it’s going to feel like a baseball field, not (something) dropped in the middle of a big concrete circle,” team president Mark Shapiro said back in spring training. “It’s going to feel much more like a ballpark and I’m so excited for everyone to see and experience that.
“There will be a significant ‘wow’ factor.”
Though the fans are being wooed to be wowed, a good portion of the spectacular side will be designed for the players, which could be a notable recruiting benefit going forward. A massive new home clubhouse will be loaded with all the modern toys that have made the team’s Dunedin player development complex such an attraction.
“We’re going to have the best and biggest clubhouse in Major League Baseball by far and it won’t even be close,” Shapiro boasts.
And here’s where the possibility of a competitive advantage has the potential to enter the expensive equation. Comfort is one thing, but state of the art recovery and weight rooms also help. So, too, will a batting cage located steps from the dugout and a dedicated 30-yard warm-up track for pinch runners to get loose in a safer and more convenient space, rather than the old way which involved dodging concession workers on the ring road in the bowels of the dome.
There will be a new visitor’s lair, as well, but the facilities will be far more spartan than the luxurious Jays digs.
“My philosophy on visiting spaces are that they’re good enough that (teams) don’t complain but not too good that we get compliments,” Shapiro said.
As for how successful the new/old Rogers Centre will be, there’s a good chance the way the team performs will be directly related to how well it does financially.
Much as last year’s outfield renovations were terrific, so too is the more significant final stage, even if it did elevate almost $100 million over budget. The team has taken pains to point out that those pricey renos are privately funded, but by private they basically expect you, the fan, to pay for it eventually. And that starts on Monday.
With that in mind, there has to at least be some nervousness beyond the spectacle of the celebratory home opener that kicks off a ninegame home stand.
Throughout that opening run, after Monday, wide swaths of unsold seats are still available. That’s not rare for a typical April in Toronto, where selling tickets for midweek games has always been a challenge.
But surely ownership would have been hoping (expecting?) big crowds to at least check out the fresh scenery.
There’s a sense, however, that there is more angst among the fan base than there has been since the team turned the corner towards contention back in 2015. With that comes the possibility supporters won’t play the rube and blindly support a team that was tough to watch much of last season, imploded in the post-season and earned a front office failing grade in the off-season.
In 2023, the Jays won fewer games at home (43-38) than they did on the road (46-25). It was their worst Rogers Centre mark since that miserable 67-win 2019 season when they won just 35 times.
The cup holders, the wider seats, the new turf, the reconfigured field which brings fans closer to the action are all designed to enhance the spectator experience.
That fan base expects more, however. And now it is on the team moving into their new home to deliver.