Play Ball!	Toronto's Game Day Experience by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

Going to a big league sporting event today can really hit the wallet hard—game tickets, parking, refreshments, perhaps a scorecard, program or a souvenir. For some families such an outing works out to just an occasional treat.

Up in Toronto, the management of the Blue Jays realize that better than most and have placed a new focus on customer service and the game day experience at the Rogers Centre, to make it the finest in all of baseball.

Last week we traveled up to the Rogers Centre in Toronto to catch the final game of the Blue Jays and Indians three-game set. During our visit we spent time with Will Hill, a member of the Jays’ management team with a new title and responsibilities as “Director Guest Services and Fan Experience.”

Hill was formerly manager of media relations for the club, and before that worked as a TV sportscaster in Windsor. Like most Jays employees you will encounter at a game, he spoke with energy and enthusiasm about his new job and all the good things happening in Jays Country.

“Our focus this season has been on working with and training all our employees with the Blue Jays, even those who don’t have much interaction with the public, with an emphasis on superior customer service, and a goal of providing our fans with a feeling that they are welcome here and their patronage is something we value,” said Hill.

Hill lamented that the on-the-field product is something he can’t control. “Here it is the All Star break, and we’ve had 12 of our players on the disabled list. Yet the team is still within striking distance of the wild card if we can get healthy and get it together in the stretch run.”

Fans who have visited Toronto and the Rogers Centre these past two seasons will notice big differences. To begin with, large vacant tracts of land in the stadium neighborhood and along the Gardiner Expressway have seen a dizzying array of construction and development, with literally dozens of gleaming 30- and 40-story condominium towers and retail establishments. Directly adjacent to the stadium is a delicatessen, a St. Louis rib restaurant and a Planet Hollywood, all which were empty fields just three years ago. More is coming.

But the improvements aren’t limited to the neighborhood. “Rogers Communications acquired this building for $25 million, and since then we have put in almost $27 million in enhancements and capital improvements,” Hill reported.

Walk around the building and you will see the difference. The makeover has been dramatic. Gone are the cold and sterile concrete concourses. New concession canopies, tiled flooring and lighting have been added. The top few rows of the main level have been removed to widen the corridor and improve the view of the field. A massive new team shop has opened. The 200 club level has also been refurbished with themed restaurants and bar areas, as well as play areas and exhibits. On the field, the old Sony Jumbotron, once billed as the largest in the world, has been replaced with a newer HDTV model, and ribbon boards and field level matrix boards have also been installed.

The directive for this new look in the stadium and the fan-friendly approach comes right from the top, from Blue Jays President Paul Godfrey. Said Hill, “We are in the entertainment business. Rogers Communications is a media entity. We realize that people today have so many choices in entertainment in this 500-channel world we live in. Our job is to make a visit to the Rogers Centre one of those choices, and Mr. Godfrey truly believes in that.”

But does Godfrey hold himself to that standard in interacting with the fans and customers? “Good question,” Hill replied. “The fact is we hold him to those high standards and expect him to be an example to all the employees here. He fills the bill nicely.”

We had to ask: If a fan holding a $9 skydeck ticket is caught sneaking down to those VIP dugout seats, will the veneer of fan friendliness disappear? Hill replied, “Well, we protect the integrity of our pricing, but really the only complaints we receive are from fans sitting in those more expensive seats who want the fairness of what they paid upheld. We also have to show concern towards on-the-field safety. You know what happened in Chicago a couple years back when the first base coach was attacked. Security these days is important and keeping fans in their ticketed location is part of all that.”

Hill spoke proudly of the team’s efforts so far. “You guys have been to every sports venue,” he said, extending his arms apart. “If this end represents your most unpleasant fan experience and this the nicest, where do the Jays rank?”

On that day, we’d been caught in an unexpected thunderstorm during the walk from the parking lot on Spadina, and arrived at the stadium drenched. Upon heading to the dugout before the game for interviews, a kindly field attendant came and offered us towels.

So where do you think we would rank the Jays?

Let’s just say this: You will never receive this kind of courtesy and service in Cleveland.