The folks at Rogers Communications know how to throw a party — and produce a clever YouTube video — but can they charm the notoriously recalcitrant Canadian real estate industry? Zoocasa.com will find out.

After several months in public beta, the resale listings site recently held an official launch at the country’s foremost sporting venue, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, not coincidentally called the Rogers Centre.

Claiming superior “intuitive” user experience, Zoocasa provides neighborhood info such as a “walk score,” rating a home’s proximity to stores, restaurants etc. The launch featured a spoof “for-sale” listing of the ballpark (scooped up in 2005 by the parent company at a huge discount to its original taxpayer-funded construction cost).

The country’s dominant cable TV provider, Rogers is also a media giant, in TV and radio as well as publishing more than 70 magazines — none of which are real estate related. Which leaves them facing the same challenge as Torstar’s Homefinder.ca: how to charm scores of real estate boards into sharing their exclusive listings, now found through Realtor.ca.

Neighborhood info may provide some sizzle, but home buyers ultimately are hungry for steak: comprehensive, current listings.