{"id":213101,"date":"2025-10-14T16:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/213101\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:25:07","slug":"blue-jays-playoff-run-boosts-sales-at-local-businesses-giving-owners-even-more-reason-to-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/213101\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays\u2019 playoff run boosts sales at local businesses, giving owners even more reason to cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Round the Horn owner Kristin McNeill, centre, embraces Blue Jays fans Matt English, left, and Kristie Nairn during the second game of the American League Championship Series on Monday. Like other businesses, Round the Horn has benefited from fans turning up to watch their team.Duane Cole\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Bars filled to capacity. Merchandise flying off the shelves. Hotel rooms booked at short notice. <\/p>\n

Business owners are some of the most ardent fans of the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019<\/a> current push through the Major League Baseball<\/a> playoffs, riding a weeks-long surge in sales that could boost their bottom line for the whole year.<\/p>\n

Interest in the Blue Jays has skyrocketed through the team\u2019s surprising and nail-biting race to win their notoriously competitive division. An emphatic dismissal<\/a> of the archrival New York Yankees from the playoffs only added to the sense of excitement. <\/p>\n

Even as the Jays have struggled to start their series against the Seattle Mariners, dropping the first two games, fans have turned up to watch. <\/p>\n

Restaurants and bars are some of the biggest beneficiaries. With Canada\u2019s economy in a slump, diners had shown signs of tightening their belts by eating out less often, but are now crowding into watering holes to cheer on the Jays and soak up the fan base\u2019s euphoric feeling.<\/p>\n

The Dizzy Gastro Sports Pub on Toronto\u2019s trendy Roncesvalles Avenue has been at its 56-person capacity every time the Jays play of late, with another 10 patrons on a patio when the weather is nice. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor a small place like us, it definitely doubles the night\u2019s sales,\u201d owner and chef Chris Murie said, and that could boost total weekly sales by 20 per cent or more. \u201cIt\u2019s huge. It\u2019s really big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kristin McNeill rallies guests of her baseball-themed bar during Monday night’s game between the Jays and Mariners.Duane Cole\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

One block over, \u201cit\u2019s tough to get a spot\u201d at baseball-themed bar Round the Horn when the Jays play, owner Kristin McNeill said. She might get 10 customers on a normal fall Monday, but if the Jays are playing, it\u2019ll be 50 to 60, which is the bar\u2019s capacity. <\/p>\n

Total sales are up \u201cprobably like 40 per cent for the playoff run,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And the frenzy is not only in Toronto. As Canada\u2019s only major-league team, the Jays are drawing crowds across the country. <\/p>\n

What is the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 playoff run worth to Rogers?<\/a><\/p>\n

Red Card Sports Bar + Eatery in Vancouver might sell $2,000 of food and drink on a typical slow night, but with a Jays playoff game on \u2013 even starting earlier in the day in the Pacific time zone \u2013 the bar has been filling up and taking in $3,500 to $5,000 in sales per game. The Mariners are an added draw, with the city\u2019s relative proximity to Seattle. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been boosting pretty much every bar and restaurant in Vancouver,\u201c said Red Card\u2019s general manager, David Gilley. \u201dToronto is basically Canada\u2019s team and everyone rallies behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stores that sell Jays merchandise and apparel are also scrambling to keep up with a rush of customers. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A Carlos Delgado bobblehead lies among a collection of sports memorabilia on display in Round the Horn.Duane Cole\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

At the Lids store at the CF Sherway Gardens shopping mall in Toronto\u2019s west end, staff set up a dedicated wall of Jays baseball caps facing the store\u2019s entrance. \u201cWe know that that is going to get those customers to just pick any of the Jays hats,\u201d said Nana Ali, a staff member at the store. <\/p>\n

But store manager Krish Kesar said the display is also designed to pull attention away from gaps in the store\u2019s merchandise. \u201cHalf of my wall is just empty because all the [Blue Jays] product is gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Sherway store\u2019s customer traffic last week was up 15 per cent, and \u201cif we have the product,\u201d nearly all of that turns into sales, Mr. Kesar said. The chain\u2019s store at Union Station, the busy Toronto transit hub near the Rogers Centre, sold $25,000 of Jays apparel on Saturday, roughly five times what would be typical. <\/p>\n

As Blue Jays walk the walk, podcasters find their own fame talking the talk<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Kesar got a delivery of 15 Jays hats with the league\u2019s \u201cPostseason\u201d crest on the side, priced at a premium $59 each, and sold 13 the day they arrived. Retro hats with a white front panel, which the Jays have worn in recent games, \u201care selling like crazy, we don\u2019t even have enough to keep up,\u201d Ms. Ali said.<\/p>\n

She even sold two Seattle Mariners caps on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The chief executive officer of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, Sara Anghel, doesn\u2019t have hard numbers yet but is expecting a positive ripple effect for the city\u2019s hospitality industry. When Toronto hosted the NHL All-Star Weekend last year, the sector \u201chad a positive uptick,\u201d she said, and playoff runs stir more devotion among fans.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Jays’ playoff run has been a boon to bars and restaurants after a few challenging years for business owners.Duane Cole\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The payment processor Moneris has also predicted a jump in spending, based on data from the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 playoff run earlier this year. <\/p>\n

Jays fans\u2019 willingness to open their wallets has been a welcome relief for bar and restaurant owners after a few tough years, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, high inflation and tariffs have driven up the cost to stock a kitchen with food and drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t quite keep up with the rising prices on my menu. You can only change your menu so many times a year, and so it was really hard that prices were fluctuating, especially with meats,\u201c Mr. Murie said. \u201dOne day they were one price, next day they do something else. And it was so hard to pin it down that we lost money last year for the first time in a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When baseball fans crowd in for a game, most of the bar\u2019s costs are already fixed, so the extra sales have a higher profit margin, he said. And that has helped restaurant owners catch up on their bills.<\/p>\n

But it is hard to plan for a fairytale playoff run. Mr. Murie missed out on what could have been strong sales on Sunday when the Jays opened their series against Seattle. He had a long-standing plan to stay closed so he could cook and give away about 20 Thanksgiving meals to neighbourhood families in need. He had promised his staff the night off.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Turnbull and Stephanie Clementi react to a play during the Jays’ second game against the Mariners.Duane Cole\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

At Round the Horn, Ms. McNeill hires security on busy nights and has added more staff. \u201cI have mercenaries coming in to bartend because we run such a bare bones staff as it is,\u201d she said, but \u201cit\u2019s stressful to try and schedule the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was expecting to be busy for the first two Jays-Mariners games on Sunday and Monday, but couldn\u2019t predict whether customers\u2019 Thanksgiving plans would keep them away. Road games in Seattle should still draw crowds to bars and restaurants, as long as fans still have hope the team can turn things around. But off-nights between games can be quieter than usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I send out a schedule, it\u2019s just subject to change,\u201d she said. She tells her staff: \u201cSorry guys, I\u2019m trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Jays\u2019 long-weekend games against the Mariners were scheduled, she said much the same thing to her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom called, she\u2019s like, \u2018I guess Thanksgiving\u2019s cancelled?\u2019\u201d Ms. McNeill said. \u201cYeah, Thanksgiving\u2019s cancelled. This is my life for the next couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Round the Horn owner Kristin McNeill, centre, embraces Blue Jays fans Matt English,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[3793,3782,64,63,3794,1348,3774,3795,2065,3773,3787,3788,3784,3775,3772,164,2555,75,69,3781,3805,3776,3777,3786,3783,1625,2289,3796,591,3779,3800,3801,3803,3798,3802,3797,3799,3778,3790,3791,84,3789,2111,85,635,105,3792,3785,3780,1346,3804],"class_list":["post-213101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-mlb","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}