The American League Approves the Toronto Blue Jays Franchise

On March 26, 1976, the American League approved the sale of a new expansion franchise in Toronto to a Canadian ownership group for seven million dollars. Labatt Breweries held 45 percent, financier Howard Webster owned another 45 percent, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took the remaining 10 percent. Major-league baseball would return to Canada's largest city for the first time since the Toronto Maple Leafs played in the International League.

The franchise award came after years of lobbying and one near-miss. Toronto had been considered for the San Francisco Giants when that team nearly relocated in 1976, but the move fell through. The expansion route proved more reliable. The American League voted to add two teams, Toronto and Seattle, bringing the junior circuit to 14 clubs beginning in 1977.

The ownership group chose the name "Blue Jays" through a name-the-team contest that drew over 30,000 entries. The name referenced the blue jay bird native to the region and also nodded to part-owner Labatt, whose flagship beer was Labatt Blue.

Toronto played its first game on April 7, 1977, at Exhibition Stadium, beating the Chicago White Sox 9-5 in a snow-dusted afternoon that captured the realities of Canadian spring weather. The Blue Jays endured seven losing seasons before becoming competitive in the mid-1980s, and they won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. The franchise became a powerful draw across English-speaking Canada, with fans from the Maritimes to British Columbia treating the Blue Jays as their national team.