Toronto Blue Jays fans are getting screwed by Apple TV and people have had enough

Coast-to-coast, fans have been captivated by the team's four-game sweep at Rogers Centre (first time in club history I might add) of the New York Yankees and sole possession of first place in the American League East over the Bronx Bombers.

So what better way to welcome the first true weekend of summer by tuning in to Friday night's first of three against the Los Angeles Angels, right?

Surely Sportsnet, the home of the majority of Jays broadcasts, is reading to feast on one of its highest ratings of the year, right?

Nope.

You guessed it, Friday is the Jays first intrusion of Apple TV of the second half of the season, a blight that Toronto fans tend to take harder than other markets around the league.

This will be the Jays third appearance this season on Apple TV, a semi-regular annoyance for not only the Jays fan base, which blessed with a coast-to-coast audience draws significantly bigger audiences than every team in baseball for its regular telecasts, but for Sportsnet itself.

Remember Rogers Communications owns both the Jays and the network, a synergy that is an ideal mix for both parties as the baseball team regularly draws more than a million viewers.

It's the second occasion this season that the Apple TV show will roll into town at a terrible time for Sportsnet.

The first was just two games into the season and denied the network of its first prime time telecast of the season.

It's not a stretch to suggest that Friday's contest against the Angels would be one of the most anticipated of the season, given the weekend slot and the events of the last week and more.

Remember that once we move through July 1, Canada becomes a captivated nation of baseball fans.

With a first-place team surging in popularity and once again scoring runs to make the television that much more enjoyable to watch? Friday is a rough one, timing wise.

The Jays aren't alone in appearing on the Apple schedule, a reality mandated by a separate national deal negotiate by Major League Baseball that gives the streaming service exclusivity.

They don't have to like it either, but given Apple is an official partner of MLB, the team and Sportsnet are discouraged from disparaging the concept publicly, or face reprimand from none other than MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

The upside for Apple TV is the prospect of landing thousands of new subscriptions from disgruntled fans who don't want to miss out on the action.

Toronto and its national audience is one of the strongest markets in terms of adding new subscribers. Yes, there is a baseball hungry sucker born every summer long weekend, it seems.

Add to the fact that Friday falls on the start of a U.S. long weekend, where viewers might be looking to do other things and, well, apparently the Blue Jays looked that much more attractive.

There may be a winner in this for Apple, but definitely not for the Jays, their fans and their broadcast network that we can bet is quietly fuming about the latest interruption of their regularly scheduled programming.

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Source Toronto Sun
How Blue Jays fans are getting screwed by Apple TV at the most exciting time in close to a decade