World Series and rest of Blue Jays’ post-season boosted Toronto hotels, businesses

TORONTO — The World Series may have ended in heartbreak for Toronto Blue Jays and their fans, but the team’s entire post-season run gave Toronto a big economic boost, with more visitors and more spending at local businesses, an organization that tracks and promotes tourism in the city said Thursday.

Destination Toronto said the four home games of the World Series saw a 15 per cent average increase in hotel demand compared to the same nights last year, adding a total of more than 11,000 room nights.

The full post-season run of the Blue Jays’ home games saw an 11 per cent average increase in hotel demand compared to the same nights in 2024, adding more than 20,000 room nights.

Destination Toronto President and CEO Andrew Weir said many visitors wanted to be part of the excitement, even if they didn’t have tickets to a game.

“They want to just be in the city at that moment,” he said in an interview.

The games also brought in many people for whom baseball post-season means work, he added.

“There are hundreds, if not several thousands, of people associated with Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the visiting media from around the world,” he said.

“Think about the number of Japanese media that are following the Japanese players on the Dodgers. They’re all coming to the city, not because they want to be part of the excitement, but because that’s their job.”

Weir said that in addition to filling hotels, visitors spent money in local restaurants and shops, providing valuable support to thousands of businesses and jobs in Toronto.

“We know that the visitor spending touches all these different sectors of the business, but we use the hotel data as an indicator for the level of visitation,” he said.

Weir said the World Series games also helped Toronto’s reputation as a global travel destination.

“We saw this boundless energy and vibrancy of the city, and that helps people know more about Toronto,” he said.

“They see the gorgeous skyline on every time the broadcast goes to commercial … They’re showing the colours, they’re showing fans in the streets.”

Weir said he expects the same thing to happen during the FIFA World Cup soccer games held in Toronto next year.

“The reputation lift is also very important for leisure travellers, people that are thinking about coming here for a baseball game, for a concert, or just for a great long weekend,” he said. “But also major event organizers that see how Toronto can handle these major events, that the city gets behind events like this.”

Payments processing company Moneris said that during World Series Game 6, total restaurant spending near the Rogers Centre climbed 20 per cent week-over-week, and jumped 26 per cent during Game 7.

Watch parties also drew Torontonians and visitors from across North America to the downtown core.

Alice Lee, the general manager of the Rec Room Roundhouse located across the street from the Rogers Centre, said the Jays’ post-season run brought a considerable boost in business.

The restaurant that also offers recreational games typically gets busier in the few hours before or after a baseball game, Lee said. That traffic increased even more during the playoffs, with fans arriving to eat and drink hours before the games started, she said.

“When the World Series week happened, it became a full blown ‘I’m going downtown to experience everything related to what’s happening with the Jays,'” she said.

“It was definitely positive … the excitement of having fans anticipating wins and wanting to make sure (the Jays) got to the next game. With each game it was kind of a nail biter,” she said.

The restaurant alone can seat between 450 to 500 people, Lee said, and all of those seats were full during World Series games, with a lineup of people outside.

The Jays fell to the Dodgers 5-4 in Game 7 but their post-season run united fans across the country and Canadians abroad.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2025.

Maan Alhmidi and Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press