Québec inc. unable to finance the Expos, but did it for the Blue Jays

Baseball in Canada is the talk of the town these days.

While the Blue Jays are in the World Series, the Expos are the talk of the town thanks to the nostalgia surrounding the documentary on the club's final run in Montreal.

https://twitter.com/passion_mlb/status/1982152753599148053

Obviously, with a title like “Who Killed the Montreal Expos?” for the documentary, it raises questions. Is there a real culprit to justify the sad end of the Expos?

In fact, we all agree that money didn't help the Expos' cause. With more money, the club could have had better players over the years.

But above all, towards the end, when the club was up for sale and no Québécois interest could/would buy the franchise, a little money would have prevented a move to Washington.

This is still true today, by the way: a little money would clearly help bring a ball club back home – but especially to Quebec.

Canada could get an MLB expansion franchise, commissioner Rob Manfred said.

The league is likely still several years away from adding teams, but multiple cities in Canada, including Montreal, could be under consideration.

– Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 26, 2025

On this subject, there's an article by Martin Leclerc that's well worth reading. On the Radio-Canada website, he reports that in 2000, Rogers founder Ted Rogers agreed to buy Videotron for four billion dollars.

If the sale didn't go through, the shareholders of Videotron (then owned by the Chagnon family) agreed to pay Ted Rogers $241 million in compensation for breach of contract.

Finally, the Caisse de dépôt got its nose into the matter and, along with Québecor, bought Vidéotron. It cost about five billion dollars to get Vidéotron.

The result? The Chagnons paid Rogers $241 million.

https://twitter.com/RC_Sports/status/1981408585331704219

The result? For $120 million, Rogers acquired 80% of Blue Jays shares. And for another $120 million, Rogers acquired 40% of the rights to Sportsnet, which broadcasts the Blue Jays.

In short, Quebec Inc. financed the Blue Jays and their broadcasting network for Rogers. I know Rogers could have bought the club without the money from the Chagnon family, but still.

We're not just talking about having your cake and eating it too. It's the whole farm, including the farmer, that was obtained by the English in return for… not much.

While no one could save the Expos (probably because the people who could afford it couldn't see a way to make it profitable), Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s Blue Jays were built thanks to Quebec. Great, huh?

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