A bet is a bet.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was spotted in the city on Tuesday wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey, paying up on a friendly wager she made with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ahead of the World Series.
The sight of Toronto’s mayor in rival colours came days after the Blue Jays’ heartbreaking Game 7 loss, which ended the team’s first World Series appearance since 1993.
The bet, revealed on Breakfast Television before the series began, was rooted in both mayors’ shared love of cycling. Chow and Bass agreed that the losing city’s mayor would not only don the opposing team’s jersey but also complete a bike ride measured by the winning team’s run total.
“We have something in common, we’re both cyclists,” Chow said at the time. “If Toronto loses, I’ll ride in miles. If L.A. loses, she’ll ride in kilometres.”
With the Dodgers ultimately clinching the championship, Chow was left to fulfill her end of the bargain, as onlookers in downtown Toronto saw her wearing the blue-and-white Dodgers jersey. Bass, meanwhile, celebrated her team’s victory in Los Angeles, where Dodgers fans flooded the streets in celebration of the franchise’s latest championship.
Game 7 of the World Series in Toronto drew an average audience of 10.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada outside of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Overall, 18.5 million Canadian viewers, representing 45 per cent of Canada’s population, watched some or all of Game 7.