It's a good thing the Rogers Centre has a retractable roof because watching baseball in Toronto in March is guaranteed to be down right freezing, especially once the sun goes down. But that's exactly when the Toronto Blue Jays will kick off their American League title defense in 2026. The club recently announced that their day game home opener, has now become a night game, but that's not the only change.
The Blue Jays have pushed their 2026 season and home opener against the Athletics back one day to Friday, March 27 at 7pm ET.
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 4, 2025
The game was originally scheduled for the afternoon of March 26. pic.twitter.com/7QimGeTgR2
Blue Jays kick off the season in prime time as Opening Day turns into Opening Night
Originally scheduled for an afternoon home game on March 26, the Blue Jays recently announced that they will play a day later, on Friday, March 27 against the West Sacramento Athletics. There has been no official word on why the change was made, however, the speculation is that the Blue Jays should begin the season in a prime time viewing slot.
Sure, it's just the first of 162 regular season games, but it will be a big one as the Blue Jays organization is likely to have tons of pomp and circumstance surrounding the season opening festivities. They'll likely raise a banner to commemorate their AL East division championship win, as well as their AL pennant.
For the Blue Jays, who captured the attention of the entire country during their October playoff run, it only feels fitting that they would get to begin their new quest in the spotlight, and capitalize on having the most potential eyeballs on the product right out of the gates. There will also be a lot of attention on them considering what they have already done this offseason, by signing a premier starter in Dylan Cease.
The Blue Jays will also have a great chance to build up some wins early on in the season as they have a relatively soft schedule to begin the year. After their opening series against the Athletics, they host the equally woeful Colorado Rockies for three games before jetting off to battle the White Sox in Chicago. They don't face a team who finished above .500 in 2025 until their fourth series of the year, when their World Series opponents, the Los Angeles Dodgers, come to town April 6-8.
