Transcending Borders: The Interplay of Sports Culture in New York and Toronto
The largest media markets by far in their respective countries, the cities of New York and Toronto have long occupied a unique niche in the world of sports. Playing on the brightest stages in the United States and Canada in front of an audience of passionate fans with a level of media attention unlike anywhere else, the attention and scrutiny that athletes receive isn’t for everyone. With that said, those who are able to make it can find themselves reaching a level of popularity unlike any other. Here’s a look at what makes these media markets stand out
Breaking Down the Big Apple
The Big Apple is known as the city that never sleeps, and for good reason. The largest media market in the United States by nearly two million homes, players in New York are in the public eye for nearly every waking hour, bringing a level of accessibility and coverage that borders on the frenzy of supermarket tabloids.
New York can turn an athlete into a superstar overnight, like when Odell Beckham Jr. made his famous one-handed catch on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014, turning himself into a household name and never ending meme fodder for his acrobatic ability. Increased attention isn’t always a good thing, though. After the New York Jets were crowned ‘offseason champions’ for acquiring four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers this season, former Giant Tiki Barber said the scrutiny that Rodgers would end up bringing to the Jets could spur the team’s downfall.
Whether it’s the around-the-clock coverage or the outside noise of things like sports betting apps that bring an added layer of attention, it seems like the city that never sleeps would make it hard for athletes to get any shuteye.
Taking in Toronto
Take everything I just described about the intensity of New York City, and then multiply it by one thousand or more. New York has two teams apiece in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, along with a pair of Major League Soccer teams and a WNBA club. It’s impossible for any one person to devote their full attention to every single one of these teams over the course of their respective seasons.
Because of that, players and franchises aren’t receiving the full, unadulterated attention of a city’s worth of fans like they are in Toronto, which only has one representative per league: the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs and the Raptors, along with the Argonauts of the CFL and Toronto FC.
When you consider the Blue Jays and the Raptors, who are the lone representatives for the entire country in their respective leagues, the media frenzy kicks up a notch further. It isn’t just Toronto they’re playing for, but all of the Great White North, adding an entire country’s worth of pressure and theatrics into the fray.
Coverage and fandom surrounding the Maple Leafs is perhaps the most rabid in all of North American sports, and the pressure surrounding the franchise continues to build with each failed season since 1967, the last time the club managed to raise the Stanley Cup. Whether it was the easygoing Phil Kessel getting shredded for his apparent love of hot dogs—and implied disdain for dieting—after leaving Toronto in 2015, or allegations that the media chases players, coaches and upper management out of town because of their lofty expectations, the city has something of a sordid reputation in the sports media world.
What’s the Impact?
Like I said, playing in a massive media market isn’t for everyone, especially when the scrutiny can become so overblown it borders on comedy. Of course, the media’s job is to tell fans what’s happening with their favorite teams, not to play favorites or serve as cheerleaders. They wouldn’t be doing their job if they looked at everything with rose-tinted lenses, but there’s a fine line between legitimate journalism and tabloid-style sensationalism, like the aforementioned hot dog article, which was later proved false.
These trends have kicked up a notch in recent years because of the hot take baiting nature of modern TV journalism, with overreactions the fastest way to generate clicks and revenue.
Any professional athlete will talk about the need to keep a cool head on the field, to drown out the outside noise as they focus solely on the game they’re playing. The louder that outside noise becomes, though, the more difficult that is to do: one wonders if the championship droughts of teams like the Maple Leafs, the Rangers, the Jets and other teams in these markets stems from the level of pressure players face.
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