Raps season opener gets terrible ratings (54,000 viewers)

[And1+2]

Yeah, had to stream the home opener because we didn't have sportsnet. Used too, but it has changed to sportsnet 360, and wwe wrestling was on instead.

I would say that had 80-90% of the reason as to why the ratings were bad. Also, the World Series... Yeah, forgot about that.

[Southward1]

Not shocking

big sports night
TSN2 (this channel has been a failure)
directionless team

I didn't expect this bad, but I expected pretty bad.

[jaymeister15]

Yeah, had to stream the home opener because we didn't have sportsnet. Used too, but it has changed to sportsnet 360, and wwe wrestling was on instead.

Game wasn't on Sportsnet. If you used to have sportsnet and don't now it's not because of Sportsnet 360. The Score was turned into Sportsnet 360.

[Kempistry]

How many people are subscribed to TSN2? These guys need to put it in the main channels
That's another problem, there is no consistency in the scheduling so people don't know when and where to watch. It would make sense to simplify it by having one channel hold it for one year(SN) then the other channel hold the rights the second year(TSN). Kapiche? They can even let Coin Toss Ross do the coin flip.

In the last 5 years I have watched less and less Raptors games since they are on channels that I don't get. I also now don't get regular TSN as it isn't part of the "standard" cable. I refuse to be gouged any worse than I am by Rogers. Frankly I'm thrilled that the ratings are bad.

[Yeezus_]

Those numbers are really terrible, Toronto FC pulls in better numbers in the city now.

I wouldn't blame being on TSN2 until we see some more numbers from this week. If this continues expect some major changes.

Major changes like what?

[Vinsane15]

Those numbers are really terrible, Toronto FC pulls in better numbers in the city now.

I wouldn't blame being on TSN2 until we see some more numbers from this week. If this continues expect some major changes.

Major changes like what?

like trading DJ Augistine for a 2nd round pick..

[TooHood]

sounds about right , loool jk channels and world series like mentioned above was the problem

[Santoki]

IMO, these dismal ratings are Colangelo's legacy and the primary reason he was fired.

Over his tenure, Bryan talked a good game, but did nothing to build the Raptors brand in Toronto or across Canada. His team's were mediocre and there was nothing to make casual fans say 'I need to check out the Raptors'.

I went to the home opener with my son. The next day I asked him if he talked to anyone at high school about the Raps v Celtics game. His answer was 'no - no one cares about the Raptors.' Even my son, (who is a 6'2" starting small forward on his high school team) is more interested in the NHL than he is in the Raptors.

So after 19 seasons, the Raptors brand is pretty much irrelevant. Masai and Leiweke have their work cut out for them.

Mentioned it before, but the young people are the biggest problem that this team will face. A lot of people here fall into two categories: those who became fans when the team first came into existence (and are in the 30s or older) and those who were teens or pre-teens when the Carter era dawned (and are in their mid/late 20s) and became NBA fans and Raptors fans more or less simultaneously.

The majority from both of those groups are now lifers...we'll have the odd Raptors-related existential crisis, but won't break away to support another team. The next generation down, though, haven't been given any reason to consider themselves Raptors fans, much less committed ones. Even our brief ups during the Bosh era aren't the sort likely to cause thousands of kids to ride out the bad, and with it sometimes being easier to find games televised nationally in the States than Raptors contests, a great deal more likely have decided that they are fans of the Heat, or Thunder, or Bulls.

We need something big, something that causes all of those casual observers to care about the team in the short-term, but makes Raptors fanhood a point of pride even once the success recedes. We need, essentially, a rallying point, and for that we need to be really good, and do something really memorable. Marginal internal improvement and dunk contest wins ain't gonna do it.

This is the anecdotal sentiment that I've encountered. Every casual fan that's under 20 is a Lakers, Heat, or Thunder fan. It's no different than the late 20s/early 30s Bulls fans you find in the GTA. However, the young, casual Raptors fan will come back if they ever do win. I think the real problem is that late 20s/early 30s crowd is now moving onto another part of their life (marriage, kids, more work responsibility) and the old love affair can quickly turn to apathy as you have less time to dedicate to the team. Once the hardcore fan base starts to erode (like TFC's has) then you're in real danger. I don't think the Raptors are there yet, but another 5-10 bad years and things could be quite critical.

[tdotboyy]

yo this **** is pissing me off, every NBA game is on tsn2 and sn1.. just bought ballstreams and its amazing on my ps3

[D.Brasco]

I wonder what ratings were like during the Carter era? I'm positive if the Raptors somehow got Wiggins, next seasons opener would be up like 300% in ratings.

[overdose]

I wonder what ratings were like during the Carter era? I'm positive if the Raptors somehow got Wiggins, next seasons opener would be up like 300% in ratings.

I remember hearing on PTS that they were close to what the Leafs pulled on HNC so like over a mill maybe.

[Macho]

I remember the opener with Hedo against the Cavs in '09 got over 700,000 viewers on The Score.

[Duke3D]

Oh hey, look at all the work the media guys put in to protect their hockey and baseball/CFL expertise base jobs. Rewards paying off nicely FTW now, great job discouraging the average viewer.

[J-Roc]

Maybe it's in this thread, but how many tuned in for Andrew Wiggins on TSN?

[Basketball_Jones]

Nobody REALLY cares about the Raptors except for the pre Carter day people. When I say that, I mean we have a bunch of casual fans that will go to the game and have no idea what the teams record is or who our starting Center is. If they did, they'd be turned off by how poorly managed and lacking in talent this team is. So perhaps ignorance is bliss. If people did catch on to how bad the team has been, nobody would go to the games. I will say, BC did a fine job at keeping the teams incompetence under wraps. Imagine if it was New York, he would have been roasted in the media constantly.

[CarterDUnk16]

This is definitely mlse fault. Raptors games are rarely on the main sports channels for cable. Whereas leafs and jays are always showing. I don't watch that many games now cause when I actually get a chance to watch their games it's never on cable. As a result, I'm catching highlights most of the time. I remember one time there was a game on but they were showing frigging horse racing and baseball (not jays). This just doesn't make sense.

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[DreamTeam09]

This for sure is a tsn2 spn1 thing because just like me and my friends, I've only seen 1 of the 3 raptors basketball games this year.

[RonaldArtest]

This would never happen if the game was broadcast on The New VR.

[ryanmkd52]

This would never happen if the game was broadcast on The New VR.

Now there was a channel you could be proud of.

[sanity]

Maybe curling actually is more exciting to watch