Why didn't any of the new jerseys say "TORONTO" on it?

[hankscorpioLA]

Yeah I get the whole Canada's team. But the same applies to the Jays and they have a jersey with TORONTO on it.

Not a big deal, but 1 of the 4 new jerseys should have had the city's name on it. We may be the ONLY team in the league without it

Utah

Teams with no city name on both home and away jerseys.

Raptors
Hornets
Bulls
Rockets
Lakers
Clippers
Heat
Kings
Spurs
Jazz

Warriors!!!

[whysoserious]

WSS, to me, this reads as somebody in Ontario completely misunderstanding the rest of Canada. And frankly, the Raptors' attempts at branding just scream that same misunderstanding. The Raptors aren't Canada's team, and that type of over the top marketing tends to put fans off on average.

This whole red and white thing and trying to hide Toronto is foolish. Nobody in Canada wants to be told that Toronto or Ontario is really Canada. It's foolish and insulting. They will happily support a winning product of a team in Canada, however, and by amazing chance Toronto just happens to be in Canada as well. Yeah, the maple leaf is on the Jays jersey, but that still isn't crossing the line between a team in Canada and Team Canada the way the Raptors have, and that should be pretty obvious.

That said, I'm not actually so sure MLSE are the fools here, either. They tend to play things for easy money, and conservatively. The Raptors really haven't made too much of a push at demographics outside of Ontario, in real life. The attempt to sign Nash to a retirement contract was one thing, but the team would have sucked horribly had the Lakers not landed Nash instead and the traction wouldn't have been there. And yeah, they tie-in to the national team and promote basketball around the country, but it feels like their heart isn't in it. To me, it feels as though MLSE is trying to sell Team Canada to Ontario specifically, as though Ontario would rather support what they believe to be Team Canada than a team from Toronto. And maybe they're right. I saw more Timberwolves jerseys than Raptors jerseys in Saskatchewan even before they drafted Wiggins.

I don't know if I agree about mis-reading Canada. It seems the average hockey fan, and this is based on my visits west, really hang on to where they grow up and the teams in that area. They loathe Toronto to an extent for being the 'somewhat centre of the universe'.

But immigrants to Canada and the people that don't automatically gravitate to hockey but have come to Canada and spread out across Canada are more open to following a team like the Raptors and don't mind the idea of being Canada's team when it comes to basketball.

It's not at all like the Jays switching to that huge Leaf and then the bird and other variations that completely lost the logo people grew with threw the winning years. That's what turned them off, losing after the World Series and then rebranding.

The Raptors are in a different position and don't have to compete for being Canada's team since there's no Expos here. So they find a way to grow in Toronto but also make the team resonate across the country. Nobody here says TFC where's Red and White to pander to the rest of Canada.

MLSE is doing this to grow the fan base across the country. Colours, logos and all that stuff is secondary to winning. That ultimately is what draws a fan in and then keeps them but the things they are doing from a branding perspective don't abandon the city of Toronto in favour of Canada but keeps them and then resonates outside to Toronto as well.

[teamLeiweke]

Should have changed the logo at the same time. REALLY capitalize on it. Give up on that ol' movie theme. Raptors were chickens with claws. Oooh scary. At least GoT is about 20 years more modern. Plus, the teams roots are the Huskies.

All I see is the Toronto Maple Leafs lesser cousin. Yuk.

The Raptors is a very cool name, no need to change it.

And I love the Canadian themed and We The North
re-brand.

[teamLeiweke]

I don't know if I agree about mis-reading Canada. It seems the average hockey fan, and this is based on my visits west, really hang on to where they grow up and the teams in that area. They loathe Toronto to an extent for being the 'somewhat centre of the universe'.

But immigrants to Canada and the people that don't automatically gravitate to hockey but have come to Canada and spread out across Canada are more open to following a team like the Raptors and don't mind the idea of being Canada's team when it comes to basketball.

It's not at all like the Jays switching to that huge Leaf and then the bird and other variations that completely lost the logo people grew with threw the winning years. That's what turned them off, losing after the World Series and then rebranding.

The Raptors are in a different position and don't have to compete for being Canada's team since there's no Expos here. So they find a way to grow in Toronto but also make the team resonate across the country. Nobody here says TFC where's Red and White to pander to the rest of Canada.

MLSE is doing this to grow the fan base across the country. Colours, logos and all that stuff is secondary to winning. That ultimately is what draws a fan in and then keeps them but the things they are doing from a branding perspective don't abandon the city of Toronto in favour of Canada but keeps them and then resonates outside to Toronto as well.

This. And Basketball is a MUCH more global sport than Hockey and Baseball.

[teamLeiweke]

According to Twiitter, only 51% of Raptors fans are from ON
https://interactive.twitter.com/nba_followers/#?mode=team&team=raptors

This link shows the amount of Raptors fans outside the city of Toronto and all across Canada.

/thread

[Morse Code]

According to Twiitter, only 51% of Raptors fans are from ON
https://interactive.twitter.com/nba_followers/#?mode=team&team=raptors

This link shows the amount of Raptors fans outside the city of Toronto and all across Canada.

/thread

I am a courier for a pharmacy in Halifax, and ironically today I saw 2 t-shirts with Raps logos, a we the north hat, and another guy with a white "we the north" T. All different ppl, at different times and in different areas. The other day I saw a guy in Lower Sackville with a leather Raps fitted.

That's just a small example but I can tell you that I am constantly on the look out for sports fans discussing Raps, or wearing anything related to the team, and the popularity in this area is growing exponentially. It might be just because they like the clothes more, but either way it's a plus.

[deeps6x]

Should have changed the logo at the same time. REALLY capitalize on it. Give up on that ol' movie theme. Raptors were chickens with claws. Oooh scary. At least GoT is about 20 years more modern. Plus, the teams roots are the Huskies.

All I see is the Toronto Maple Leafs lesser cousin. Yuk.

The Raptors is a very cool name, no need to change it.

And I love the Canadian themed and We The North
re-brand.

You get that We The North is from Game of Thrones and not Jurassic Park right?

Nothing wrong with Blue and White. Toronto's other two major sports teams use it. In a way, it is Toronto's brand. Toronto's colors.


But it seems we are stuck with the Raptors for a while longer. At least they didn't steal the team's name from a Disney movie. Mighty Ducks. Uggh.

Also, why Red? Or Purple? Were Raptors supposed to be red or purple? Might as well use Blue.

Someone should photoshop our current new logos into this Huskies blue and white, just to see what everyone thinks about the colors.