^^^Lots of reasons:
-Since the Expos left, the national media and thus the entire country can focus its attention on 1 team.
-If you like baseball, it is literally the only pro stadium within thousands of miles in western Canada.
-I think you have to give credit to the MLB/Mariners FO which is a marketing juggernaut. They have traditionally timed this series during Canadian long weekends ie. BC Day/Heritage Day. They also advertised the series on the radio in the lower mainland. 30K on Monday night is proof of that when they usually would draw maybe 10K to 15K.
-Also, you have to understand that these same Canadian fans that are obnoxious at Safeco sit on their hands at Canuck games or at the Saddledome for that matter.
Why the difference? It is just a way to show some national pride which Canadians don't typically show at their own home games for fear of looking like an idiot unless it's the gold medal game in hockey. And nothing feels better than sticking it to Americans in a very passive aggressive way, in my Canadian opinion.
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