Damien Cox: The Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bombers have told unvaccinated fans to stay home. Toronto teams should be next

To say people were pleased to see the Blue Jays back at the dome, and to witness live tennis being played at the Aviva Centre, would be a major understatement. Developments like those feel like a return to something approximating normal.

At the same time, the scenes in recent days have been a bit strange. Until late last month, the Jays weren’t even allowed to play out of their Canadian home because of COVID-19. Now there are games at the Rogers Centre and you see fans bunched together in various parts of the stadium, with only some wearing masks. Vaccinated? Unvaccinated? Who knows?

How did we get from there to here so fast? From the Jays playing in Buffalo or Dunedin because of health concerns to being back at the dome with few masks and few restrictions?

Ditto for the tennis. The Rogers Cup (now the National Bank Open) didn’t happen in Montreal or Toronto last year for a variety of COVID-related reasons. Now it’s back with fans in the main stadium at just over 50 per cent capacity, but again without being asked to provide any proof of vaccination against the coronavirus.

Welcome to the sports world between where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Empty stadiums and cancelled events is where we were. Where we’re going, meanwhile, was probably illustrated nicely on Wednesday, when the Winnipeg Jets announced that if you want to be one of their customers at the Canada Life Centre next season, you’re going to have to prove you’re fully vaccinated.

Not vaccinated? Stay at home.

“We have recently surveyed a selection of our customers and the majority of respondents told us they would only feel comfortable attending games if we required proof of full vaccination,” read the Jets website. “Furthermore, approximately 70 per cent of guests felt it was important that staff and guests be required to wear masks at games or events.”

So, double-vaxxed and masked. That’s a pretty significant difference from what the Jays and Tennis Canada have been demanding. Also very different from what we’re seeing in Alberta, where neither the Calgary Stampeders nor the newly named Edmonton Elks are requiring fans to be vaccinated or wear masks.

The Jets are the first NHL team to institute this type of policy, echoing what the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers have done. The Bombers had 29,376 at their home opener last week, the largest attendance at a sporting event in Canada since COVID hit. All in attendance were double-vaxxed.

After almost two years away from the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays have been welcoming up to 15,000 fans a game with no proof of vaccination required.

Common sense is winning in Manitoba. A safe stadium in the middle of a pandemic is good for business, apparently.

In the music industry, stars such as Jason Isbell have already started to make it clear they will only play at venues that require proof of vaccination or negative COVID tests. “I’m all for freedom, but if you’re dead, you don’t have any freedoms at all,” said Isbell. He cancelled a concert in Texas because the venue wasn’t willing to go along.

Singer Stevie Nicks has cancelled her upcoming tour because of COVID fears. At a music festival in Chicago that drew about 385,000 vaccinated and unvaccinated fans over a number of days, more than 200 new COVID cases have already emerged.

COVID cases are clearly bad for business — all business. What is happening with the Jets and Blue Bombers is an indication of what likely will soon become the norm at Canadian sporting events.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is planning to make an announcement next week regarding its plans for Maple Leafs and Raptors games this fall.

“We continue to work with local and provincial public health officials to finalize our protocols and will announce in the coming days,” an MLSE spokesperson said Thursday.

The guess here is that they’ll do exactly what the Jets and Bombers are doing.

Why wouldn’t they? The building’s going to be full regardless. Safer to have it full of vaccinated people.

In Ontario, a number of business and health organizations have said recently that a vaccination passport of some kind is going to be necessary to allow businesses to start operating anywhere close to full capacity again. Western University became the latest post-secondary school to announce that all students on campus will have to be fully vaccinated this fall.

It’s pretty clear what the trend is. It’s not bending toward the unvaccinated.

With the Jays, 15,000 fans were allowed in for the first 10 games back in the GTA starting July 30. Two-thirds of the tickets were standard seating, the rest in physically distanced pods of up to four. Only the 100 and 200 levels were open. The Jays return from a road trip on Aug. 20. It’s hard to believe they won’t be moving toward some kind of preferred treatment for vaccinated patrons.

Chances are most Canadian pro sports teams will move toward what the Winnipeg Jets are doing. In the United States? Anything is possible there, where Republicans don’t want to be caught wearing masks for fear others will think they are Democrats.

It’s different in the Great White North. A sturdy majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and professional sports franchises like to identify what attracts the most people to their events. The days of arguing with the anti-vaxxer and reluctant vaccination mobs are over. Soon, they will find themselves excluded from many activities we were once all welcome to attend.

This makes sense. This is where we’re headed.

This time they stay home, not the rest of us.