Blue Jays’ Loss is Rogers’ Record-Breaking Win

While the Toronto Blue Jays lost the World Series, their parent company, Rogers Communications, scored a massive victory as Game 7 shattered Canadian television records, cementing the value of its sports ownership strategy.

• A ratings grand slam: The finale against the Dodgers pulled in an average of 10.9 million viewers, a new record for the company. According to Sports Business Journal, the only broadcast to ever draw a larger English-language audience in Canada was the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

• A winning week: The record-setting game capped a massive week for the network. The seven-game series averaged 7.5 million viewers, with each of the seven matchups setting a new viewership benchmark for the Blue Jays.

• The payoff pitch: The numbers are the payoff for Rogers’ long-game strategy of owning the team, its stadium, and the network that broadcasts the games. The series reached 45% of the entire Canadian population, a level of market penetration rarely seen outside of the NFL playoffs.

The historic viewership proves that a national team on a championship run remains one of the last true cultural events capable of capturing a mass, appointment-viewing audience, validating massive corporate investments in live sports.

Meanwhile, the business of sport continues to evolve, as the College Football Playoff is instituting major changes for its 12-team era, including a new straight-seeding format and an updated revenue distribution model for its participants.