Former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jason Kelce has drawn sharp criticism from Canadian baseball fans after questioning the excitement of the recent World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Kelce made the remarks on the latest episode of New Heights, the popular podcast he co-hosts with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. During the discussion, Jason asked Travis how he could find baseball entertaining and, more pointedly, how he could cheer for a Canadian team in the championship series.
“You’re telling me I am supposed to get excited about a Canadian baseball team and a team [the Dodgers] that spends more money than everybody else?” Jason states. “Who the f*** cares about either of them?”
Jason stated outright that “baseball sucks,” pointing to the Dodgers’ league-high $394 million payroll; roughly $40 million more than the New York Mets, who rank second, and $130 million more than the Blue Jays, who ranked fifth.
“You just buy World Series championships. It’s the dumbest thing in the world,” the elder Kelce said.
Kelce’s comment catches ire of beloved Blue Jays reporter
Travis, who has often spoken about his love of sports beyond football, pushed back against his brother’s comments. He told listeners he enjoyed watching the Dodgers–Blue Jays matchup and thought the series provided fantastic entertainment, calling it “absolutely epic.”
“I was enjoying the f*** out of it. It was exciting,” Travis countered.
“It’s exciting? It’s exciting that the team that spent the most money, which everyone knew was going to win the World Series, won the World Series,” Jason said in response. “Everybody knew this was going to happen before the season.”
Among those weighing in was Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, who responded directly to the video on X, writing: “Wow. What a disappointing comment.” Long-time Sportscentre anchor Jennifer Hedger went a step further, quote-tweeting the clip on X, writing, “That’s a clown comment, bro.”
The Blue Jays, who reached the World Series for the first time in three decades and led the Fall Classic 3-2 entering Game 6, ultimately fell to the Dodgers 5-4 in the 11th inning of Game 7.
Forty-five per cent of Canadians, or 18.5 million people, tuned in during the game. According to the Associated Press, Game 7 averaged a combined 25.98 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming services, one of the most-watched Fall Classic games in recent memory.
Fittingly, fans attending Game 7 in Toronto also set a new record for data usage at the Rogers Centre, surpassing the record set during Taylor Swift’s concert on Nov. 21, 2024.
The clip in question has generated 1.1 million views since being uploaded on Wednesday. As of Friday, Jason Kelce had not publicly responded to the criticism.
