As the Toronto Blue Jays continue their World Series run, Canadian internet data use has hit record highs, said Rogers this week.
Rogers says its customers streamed and surfed through 145,000 terabytes of data during Games 1 to 3—a figure the company compared to watching a three-minute grand slam video 1.28 billion times.
During Game 3, which went a crazy 18 innings, usage reached 65,000 TB on Rogers’ wireline network alone. Fans at Rogers Centre also set a new in-stadium record, using 6.8 TB of mobile data during Game 1.
Rogers’ Chief Technology Officer, Mark Kennedy, said Canadians are “cheering on the Blue Jays” and credited the company’s network for powering the viewing experience.
The company touted it has spent about $70 billion upgrading its networks over the past two decades, part of its effort to boost internet reliability and speeds nationwide.
Rogers owns the Blue Jays, Rogers Centre, the TV network that broadcasts games (Sportsnet) and also runs cable TV that sells you sports channels, plus media at the digital, print and radio level. Now that’s what you call being vertically integrated. The company touts it is the “proud owner of Canada’s team” in its marketing at Rogers Centre.
During the company’s recent earnings call last week, Rogers said it has plans to buy out the remaining 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and other sports teams.
Rogers has already purchased Bell’s share of MLSE this year ($4.7 billion deal) and is now eyeing the remaining minority stake. MLSE chair Larry Tanenbaum still owns about 20% of the company through Kilmer Sports Inc., after selling 5% to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) in November 2023 to help finance the launch of Toronto’s new WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, which is set to debut in 2026.
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