Blue Jays are getting creative with ways to bring fans to the park

While the Blue Jays may not be actively trying to contend this year, they’re trying to find plenty of other ways to draw fans to the Rogers Centre.

With just under two weeks before Opening Day, the Blue Jays and their marketing department have really ramped up promotions to sell tickets to home games at the Rogers Centre, and lately they’re getting pretty creative about it too.

It’s an issue that I’m a little torn about. On one hand, there’s a part of me that thinks that ownership could have spent some of this money on fielding a more competitive team, but hey, at least they’re trying to appease the fans.

This week alone we’ve watched the announcements of five dollar beer days, more talk about dollar hot dogs, and now the largest 50/50 draw in MLB history, set for Opening Day in Toronto. The pot will be a cool half million dollars, and surely that will draw a few folks out to the ballpark that may not otherwise have bought tickets to game one.

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It sounds like a small thing, and in the grand scheme of things it is, but having more affordable options more fans at the ballpark is definitely a good thing. Fans will be able to access a dedicated stand on each level for the “dugout deals”, and while the lines will likely be fairly long, it probably still beats paying $12 for a cold one at the game.

As for of a media release from Executive Vice President of Business Operations Andrew Miller, the Blue Jays wanted to make sure that they provided a wider range of options for fans, and ultimately, made it more affordable to take your family out to the park, with stuff like, “Family Night Combos”, and their new “Friday Night Freedom Bundle”.

"“This season, our team has been focused on understanding our fans better – listening to their feedback, learning what is important to them, and delivering on the kind of experience they are looking for at Rogers Centre”"

As I said above, it’s a small consolation for a fan base that enjoyed a revival over the last few years and hardly wants to enter into a rebuild. However, we can’t always have what we want in life, and in this case at least there are cheap beer and hot dogs to help get us through it.