Blue Jays' Spring Home Opener Records Stunningly High TV Viewership

451,000 viewers reportedly tuned into Toronto's spring training home opener on Sportsnet Sunday.

© Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

After a near miss in last year’s playoff run and some heavy-duty roster moves over the offseason, the Blue Jays are expected to be a big draw in 2022. Still, the viewership for Toronto’s first game exceeded expectations.

The Blue Jays’ spring training home opener against the Pirates Sunday—which was also the first televised Jays spring game—recorded 451,000 viewers on Sportsnet’s main channel, according to sports media analyst Adam Seaborn.

The Blue Jays outclassed both the Canada-Turkey World Championship curling matchup (370,000 viewers) and the Toronto Raptors/Philadelphia 76ers game on Sportsnet One (356,000). Only the season-opening Formula One on TSN (575,000) race saw more viewers. For comparison, an average of 500,000 viewers tuned into Blue Jays regular season games in 2020, according to a Forbes article.

Sports TV Ratings 🇨🇦

March 20
🏁F1 Bahrain: 575k (TSN)
⚾️Jays/Pirates: 451k (SN)
🥌Women's TUR/CAN: 370k (TSN)
🏀Raps/76ers: 356k (SN1)
🏒Canucks/Sabres: 226k (SNP)
🥌Women's SWI/CAN: 201k (TSN)
🏒Jets/Avs: 200k (TSN3)
🏀MM Primetime: 174k (TSN)
🏒Stars/Caps: 168k (SN)

— Adam Seaborn (@AHBSeaborn) March 21, 2022

The biggest takeaway from these numbers is that fans are becoming increasingly obsessed with Blue Jays baseball, and it’s hard to blame them. A 99-day MLB lockout threatened to delay the regular season, certainly adding more appreciation to the game once a new collective bargaining agreement was reached.

Toronto also hyped up its fans by adding to its roster for the second year in a row, first signing starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year, $36 million contract, and then forking up some reasonable prospect capital for Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman, who got an enthusiastic reception from the TD Ballpark crowd Sunday.

Excitement—and TV viewership—is expected to ramp up as we inch closer to the Blue Jays regular season opener scheduled for April 8 at home against the Rangers.