The Toronto Blue Jays will be unable to play their home games in Toronto this season, as the Canadian Federal Government denied them permission. With the start of the season only a few days away, the club has little time to decide on a new location for Blue Jays home games.
The Blue Jay’s top options to host home games include Dunedin, Florida, and Buffalo, New York. Dunedin is the home of their Spring Training facilities and has everything up to MLB standards. The main concern is the rising cases of Covid-19 in Florida. Buffalo is ideal because it’s right across the border from Canada, but the facilities and ballparks would need to be upgraded to fit MLB standards- something that might not be able to be done by July 29, their “home opener.”
Although the Blue Jays received federal exemption to carry out Summer Camp at the Rogers Center in Toronto the past few weeks, this was accompanied by many rules and regulations which were easy to follow for one team from Canada. Due to the travel bans and border closings, having different teams cross international borders is something more complicated which the Canadian government decided to vote against.
Dunedin and Buffalo are the top options right now, but Toronto will be looking for any opportunity available in order to play in the 2020 season.
