The economy wins! The Toronto Blue Jays win!! Everybody wins!!!

The economy wins! The Toronto Blue Jays win!! Everybody wins!!!

(Image: Joel Dinda)

Apparently, more bums in ballpark seats are a strong indicator of a growing economy. Canadian Business is reporting on a fun (albeit random) bit of economics put forward by analysts at the New York–based tech firm ConvergEX Group. The argument goes that the number of people who buy tickets to Major League Baseball games in any given season parallels consumer confidence. (Rocket science alert: people buy more stuff, like baseball tickets, when they have more money and feel good about spending it.) While the theory is obviously more than a little facile, it’s proving true as far as the Toronto Blue Jays are concerned—Canada’s economic health is quickly improving (good!) and so too is Blue Jays attendance this season (also good!). Of course, though a stronger economy may mean more Torontonians are getting their baseball on, we can think of another reason for locals to flock to the Rogers Centre—winning. Something the boys in blue have been doing a lot of lately. [Canadian Business]