What the business side of the NBA learned by the Raptors winning the title

When the San Antonio Spurs won the title in 2014, they had 60,000 fans show up for that celebration.

In 2019, when our beloved Raptors hoisted the Larry OB, we had close to 3 million show up for the championship parade.

Let that soak in for a moment.

3 million people! That’s a difference of 2.94 million people from the parade Kawhi attended in 2014 to the one he just attended in 2019.

I have said this many times before but it bears repeating: I don’t what percentage exactly but the fans will definitely play a role in the recruitment of Kawhi Leonard.

There is nothing like an entire country backing you up! You win in Chicago, they ain’t celebrating that title in Boston. The United States isn’t celebrating your title. You win in Toronto and all of Canada is celebrating your championship. This was evidenced by all the Jurassic Parks nationwide, the record ratings, and the travelling circus that is Raptors fans. We saw this fan presence on the road all season; when they play on the road there is a fan base of Canadians showing up to the games and drowning out the home town fans with their “Let’s Go Raptors” chants. I actually got to experience this myself this year. In February, I attended the Raptors vs. Knicks game in Madison Square Garden (Marc Gasol’s first game as a Raptor) and it felt like all the Raptors fans took over MSG to the point that the arena starting piping in artificial fan noise to drown out our chorus of Raptors chants.

We essentially turned a lot of road games into home games (sorry Detroit). We also saw this fan support on the biggest stage in the playoffs: the NBA Finals! After each victory in Oakland, you had hundreds of Raptors supporters make their way to the lowerbowl to serenade the players with chants of “Let’s Go Raptors” and even signing the national anthem. God bless, Canadians! We are the absolute best. You even had analysts who follow the league closely overwhelmed by the love, support, and response from Toronto fans. They hadn’t seen anything like this before! The NBA has never seen a fanbase like this before!

This is my roundabout way of saying that this Finals put Toronto on the map — in the sense that it gave us an appropriate venue to share with the world what we already knew: Raptors fans are the best in the NBA! Why? Because you are not just representing Toronto, you are representing an entire country, and you are representing a diverse population.

The NBA sales division is also learning that Raptors fans are the best in the association. The NBA store is experiencing record sales on Finals merchandise and their site was even overwhelmed by the volume of traffic. I can guarantee you that the NBA Execs learned that the Raptors are good for business. Imagine how much Christmas Day game merchandise Raptors fans will buy! I know I will! Also, if you combined the American and Canadian ratings, the ratings were higher in 2019 than in any of the four Warriors-Cavs Finals. This championship has served as a wake up call to the league to just how much they were ignoring their neighbour in the North (the lone international team).

These NBA executives are realizing there is a lot of money to make here! This is not just money from those living in Canada. The NBA is learning that the U.S. is populated by expatriates. They are seeing incredible sales numbers not just in Canada but all across the United States. Our fanbase shook the NBA snow globe by turning it upside down. Also, New Balance can’t keep a shirt on the shelf as Kawhi’s merchandise is selling out whenever it goes on sale. Simply put: this Finals run put Toronto on the financial map for the NBA!

If you are a player thinking of changing teams and you watched the parade, the crowds at the over 30 Jurassic Parks, 50,000 people outside the arena watching the game, you might now start considering Toronto and Canada as an amazing place for your brand as well as your playing career. To put that number in perspective, the Jays are having trouble getting 8,000 people to a game while the Raptors have 50,000 people outside the arena watching on huge television screens. The NBA is learning that there is money to be made by pushing and backing the Toronto Raptors. Essentially what I’m trying to get at is: give us our fucking Christmas Day game already! We earned it! The NBA has no choice now but to put their reigning, defending, and undisputed champ on Christmas Day.

This run to a title — whether for the younger generation or those paying attention on the periphery for years — grabbed their full attention. It created a moment in Canadian history that will be part of the cultural fabric moving forward. This Finals run had moments that will be remembered in the same vein as Touch ’em all, Joe and The Bat Flip and The Donaldson Dash. We can now add the Four Bounce Special and The Dunk on Giannis to the list of moments that Toronto sports fans will remember for the rest of their lives. I’ll even go as far as to say this: history will view the Warriors two victories in the Finals against the Raptors as a fluke. The two games the Raptors lost could easily have been Raptors victories.

We have also made it incredibly difficult for Kawhi Leonard to walk away. Even if he does walk away, he will have that nagging voice in the back of his head saying “did I really just walk away from all that?”

Kawhi got to experience how Toronto and Canadians care about their team just like European fans care about their soccer clubs or national teams. There is a pride in Toronto that cannot be measured or properly explained or put into words — and this 2019 Raptors squad accomplished it!

Kawhi Leonard is the eraser of insecurities and of past defeats. He represents a blank state where anything is possible and I’m hoping that he comes back — even if only to defend the NBA title. You need to defend the title! You need to walk into Christmas Day as the same team that won the 2019 championship!

This is a new era, a new day, and a new dawning in Toronto. We are champions and you can’t take that back! Titles are forever! Regardless of what happens moving forward, we will always have 2019.

Until next time…

Show your support and follow us on Twitter: @lifeinrepeat