Canadiens: 300,000 more people watched the Blue Jays on Tuesday (10:30 p.m./Québec)

Dose
Crédit: Lance McMillan/Toronto Star October-28-2025. (Photo by Lance McMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Damn, it’s going to be a long day.

It’s cold, wet, windy… and 8pm can’t come soon enough. Why 8pm? Because that’s when the game between the Dodgers and Blue Jays gets underway in Toronto.

Will the World Series be won tonight? Maybe… although somewhere inside me, I’m dreaming of Game #7 tomorrow, with many of the best pitchers on both teams taking turns on the mound. It would be insane.

Let’s get back to tonight’s game before thinking about tomorrow’s (unconfirmed) one.

There are no tickets under $1,790 on StubHub right now, and some are going for close to $25,000.

Imagine paying that price for a defeat and a trophy that won’t be lifted.

Astronomical ratings
Few sporting events attract more viewers than a game – regular or playoff – for the Canadiens in Quebec. Usually, there’s the Super Bowl… and that’s it. The big golf and tennis tournaments, the NBA or MLS finals… they hardly ever attract more people than a Habs game on our two French-language Québécois sports networks (RDS and TVA Sports).

But that’s what happened on Tuesday night, when for 30 minutes, the Jays and the Habs played at the same time on TVA Sports and RDS.

From 10:30 to 11:00 p.m., Numeris estimates that around 500,000 people were glued to the Jays (TVA Sports) and fewer than 200,000 were watching the start of the Canadiens game on RDS. It’s completely insane! Especially given the Canadiens’ excellent start to the season.

The Jays craze is palpable from coast to coast in Canada, not least because it’s a bit of a USA vs. Canada championship, and that’s where the rivalry currently lies. Just think of the 4 Nations Final.

Of course, it can be said that there’s a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) phenomenon with the Blue Jays, that the importance of a World Series game outweighs that of a regular-season game, and that many Québécois – notably revived by the documentary on the death of the Expos – have rallied behind the Blue Jays in recent years.

Still, somewhere out there, we’ve got a Toronto baseball team that attracts more attention than a hockey team – our national sport – from Quebec. And to see TVA Sports crush RDS during certain segments, even before 400,000 or 500,000 fewer subscribers, strikes the imagination.

How many of us will be watching the Jays tonight?

And if there is a Game 7 tomorrow night, how will TVA Sports and TVA Sports 2 divide up the pie?

Extension

MLB ‘s TV contract with RDS and TVA Sports is interesting. In an even-numbered year, RDS gets the All-Star Game, the home run contest, the American League Series, the World Series and specific days during the season (three or four specific days during the seven-day week). The following year, the whole package went to TVA Sports, and RDS retained only the National League Series, as well as three or four days a week during the regular season.

TVA Sports really hit the jackpot this year with the Jays ‘ odd-year run. The network also cashed in this year with the 4 Nations, Mboko’s run at the National Bank Open and the Habs series. So much the better!

When I asked people about the possibility of RDS and TVA Sports sharing some thirty or forty national games and special events, a bit like they do with MLB, I was told the following:

“It’s a possibility, yes, but the split should be less risky, like with the Raptors in English, for example. One network has games 1, 2, 5 and 7 and the other has games 3, 4 and 6 during one series, then it’s reversed the next series. This prevents one network from getting it all and the other from getting nothing at all. But don’t forget one thing: TVA Sports and RDS are not partners when it comes to French-language MLB broadcasts. The two companies have each signed a deal directly with MLB, not in partnership with each other.”

Will the NHL sell half its national French-language rights to RDS and the other half to TVA Sports?

If the price drops, it could happen. For now, the price is still too high.