Canadians mad about Trump’s trade war avoided the US. Then the Blue Jays made it to the World Series
Los Angeles
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Vancouver attorney Grant Murray used to travel to the United States frequently until the US-Canadian trade dispute led him to wage his own personal travel boycott. But as much as he loves his country and wants to support it, he loves his Toronto Blue Jays more.
So he was at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday night with his brother Kevin, who traveled all the way from Australia, to take in their first World Series game.
“The Canadian economy is being hurt. Lots of people are very concerned about their future,” he said. “There’s a level of solidarity that I support, but I guess I’m now a hypocrite because I’m supporting the Blue Jays more than the boycott.”
Murray isn’t the only Canadian who was boycotting trips to the United States this year.
Canadians are usually the top foreign travelers to the United States, with 20.2 million visits in 2024, according to data from industry trade group the US Travel Association. But the group expects that Canadian travel to the United States will drop to 15.7 million this year, a 22% decline.
Three days of the World Series games aren’t going to make up for that estimated loss – but they are driving some travel from Canadians.
Ticket resale service StubHub estimates that 8% of the tickets it sold to the three World Series games in Los Angeles went to Canadian customers. SeatGeek, Major League Baseball’s official reseller, estimates that 3% of its LA game sales are to Canadians.
Those figures likely represent thousands of Los Angeles World Series tickets over three days, though neither company releases specific ticket sales numbers.
Living in Vancouver, Murray finds it easier to see the Jays in Seattle than in Toronto. But he passed up regular season games there this year. He also passed up once-frequent US trips elsewhere to see his team.
Murray did go to see a league championship game in Seattle last week. But he skipped his usual hotel room and drove six hours roundtrip rather than spend the money in the United States.
LA games cheaper for many Jays fans
It was also cheaper for Murray to see a game in LA than in Toronto. The travel expenses were lower, and when he shopped for tickets in Toronto, there was a limited supply selling at two to three times face price.
Los Angeles has a larger stadium, therefore more tickets, so Murray was able to get an upper deck ticket for face price.
Other Canadian Jays fans at Monday night’s game also found the tickets more affordable than in Toronto.
“We tried to get tickets over there (in Toronto),” said Jat Yassine, who is from Toronto and talked to CNN at the game Monday. “They were sold out very, very fast, and then any of the resale market (tickets) were almost double the price of LA.”
Data from SeatGeek shows average ticket prices of nearly $1,400 in both stadiums as of Monday evening. But those averages were driven up by the most expensive seats. The least expensive seats sold on SeatGeek were closer to $400 in Toronto and $300 in Los Angeles.
Shimon Sitzer, a Jays fan originally from Toronto who now lives and works in suburban New York, said he met other Jays fans from Canada at the game Monday who had been avoiding US travel but broke down to come to the game.
“There’s actually some people I know would have maybe come if not for the situation with (President Donald) Trump,” he said. “But I met people at the game (from Canada) who said ‘We’re not here to support the United States or its president, we’re here to support our baseball team.’”