Loaded sports calendar could limit attendance

On the heels of their lowest home crowd since 2003, the Toronto Argonauts are facing one of their top draws Friday night in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (TSN1, 7:30 p.m.).

But the Argos aren’t expecting their biggest crowd of the season. That came opening day when the Rogers Centre attendance was announced at 20,642 for the game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

One reason for another lower-thanexpected attendance Friday? The Argos face a loaded calendar competing for a sports fan’s attention:

The Blue Jays are in New York in an AL East showdown against the Yankees for what some describe as the most important series in two decades for Toronto’s MLB franchise (Sportsnet, 7 p.m.).

Canada, led by Andrew Wiggins, is in Mexico to take on Venezuela in the Olympic qualifying men’s basketball tournament. If Canada wins, it will claim an Olympic berth for the first time since 2000 (TSN4, 7 p.m.).

A world title bout at Ricoh Coliseum between Adonis (Superman) Stevenson and Tommy Karpency. Donovan (Razor) Ruddock, 51, is also fighting Dillon Carman on the undercard.

Men’s and women’s semifinals, U.S. Open tennis tournament (TSN2).

When the Argos announced that only 14,748 spectators turned out on a gorgeous August day last month with the Ottawa Redblacks, it was the lowest attendance in Toronto since 2003. There was good reason back then. A few days earlier, on Aug. 14, a massive blackout that struck northeastern North America crippled Ontario in 2003. The CFL game against the Edmonton Eskimos had to be rescheduled three days later, when Toronto subways and streetcars still weren’t running. Curtis Rush