Granted that Sportsnet is owned by Rogers and Rogers owns the Jays,
the best place to glue the eyes is here:  (for the best most accurate, updated info)  https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/shohei-ohtani-has-not-yet-made-decision-no-timeline/

If Shohei Ohtani does strike a deal with the Jays, it could be monumental for Rogers. 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/armstrong-shohei-ohtani-baseball-blue-jays-1.7052383#:~:text=They%20want%20Ohtani%20to%20come,describe%20Ohtani's%20level%20of%20fame.

TSN's Overdrive had great coverage/speculation on the possibility of Shohei Ohtani flying in this afternoon from California.  They even had a video tracker of the plane as it made it's way over Michigan and Southern Ontario.

It was pretty entertaining television but host Bryan Hayes stressed that the plane may not be connected to Ohtani.  Hayes, Noodles and O-Dog had fun with the whole thing and mostly kept everything clear sighted reminding everyone that nothing had happened yet.    

Sports Illustrated jumped the gun this afternoon saying on line that Ohtani was going to sign with Toronto and he was flying in for the official announcement and signing.  

If they spend $500 million on this guy, I say that's the end of the NHL TV deal. 

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/12/08/rogers-toronto-blue-jays-ohtani-nhl-rights.aspx

Last edited by cash (December 9, 2023 1:09 am)

The broadcast rights for the NHL next round will be fascinating.  Many believe the streamers will be a significant part of the deal.  

At the time of Roger's mega contract with the NHL, seemed like the best way for Sportsnet to surpass TSN in ratings and influence.  TSN had always been the dominate sports channel in Canada.  Many will say it still is.   Apparently Roger's yearly fee increases to over $500 million per year for the last three years of the NHL deal.  The contract finishes the end of the hockey season in 2026. 

If Shohei decides to play in Toronto, the Blue Jays international profile is going to go way up.  NHK, Japan's public broadcaster will broadcast every Jays game if the super star comes to Canada.

US$700M over 10 years = CDN$952M
Jays would have had to offer CDN$1B to get him
At 29 for a guy with a wonky pitching arm, that's too big a risk.
Were the Jays just used to bid up the price?

I was really disappointed with the radio coverage here once the news broke. At least at first. 

The Fan was interviewing some old Raptor player, whose name I didn't catch, when the signing became known. They didn't cut the segment short but kept going, which was surprising. At least they did go to local coverage in the next hour, which leads me to believe they were getting the regulars in place. 

TSN 1050, on the other hand, was inexcusable. Yes, they had the news in the top of the hour sports headlines, coming from ESPN in the U.S. They then stayed with the ESPN feed and quickly moved on to talk NFL. I know, it's syndicated and the station likely doesn't make enough to bring in talent on the weekend. But this was surely one of the biggest stories in Toronto sports history and to stay with ESPN was simply shameful. They knew this was coming on the weekend and did absolutely nothing to prepare for it. No wonder their ratings are where they are. 

Even AM640 had better coverage. Arlene Bynon was in for Roy Green on Saturday and devoted nearly a full hour to the story, taking phone calls from fans and talking to a few sports columnists. And they're not even a sports station. (Oddly, she was told the news by one of her guests, Prof. Michael Geist discussing the implications of Bill C-11, because he'd just seen it on Twitter/X!)

RadioActive wrote:

Speaking of an epic fail, why did CTV Toronto news at 6 not lead with the signing? Instead, their lede was a group of local citizens touring the Ontario Science Centre to try and stay at the location. 

Are you kidding me? How is that the top story?

At least Global got this one right - they led with the signing. 

I’m guessing that it was due to the fact that this was a Rogers related news story & CTV didn’t want to give their competition any publicity, which is lame considering this was the talk of Toronto/Canada for the past couple of days. Good on Global for being the adults!
 

Local sports news media would soil the sheets less if they devoted more time to wiping their butts and less to lustily chasing PR efforts.

What a great article from USA Today and the reasons why you shouldn't believe anything you hear about MLB trade rumours from now on. 

"A photographer from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is hurriedly dispatched to the tarmac, ready to shoot historic pictures of Ohtani’s steps off the plane, which would have been a giant leap for all of Canadian baseball-kind. 

Only to watch Canadian entrepreneur Robert Herjavec, a Shark Tank judge, stepping off the plane. Ohtani never left his house in Southern California. 

The night ended and no decision was made. 

The only thing that happened during the day was us embarrassing ourselves and infuriating baseball fans even further. 

What in the world are we doing?"

Shohei Ohtani free agency hysteria brought out the worst in MLB media. We can do better.