The Raptors Have Lost Toronto

[WaltFrazier]

To be fair, if Masai were to leave, and the team stay middle of the road or worse in this era of superteams, and seeming to have no chance to repeat the magic of 2019 with all its Jurassic Park hoopla, then yes I could see the Raps falling in the eyes of the average fan. Hopefully there will always be a hardcore enough to fill the arena if and when the team comes back to Scotiabank.

[durka]

I think after years of putting out great teams, expectations for the Raps are very high. It's not easy to be invested in an obviously inferior product this year.

You still see more Raps gear than any other team when you walk around though. Saying theyve lost the city is off base. RealGM is obviously going to be biased towards basketball, but we've been pretty spoiled the last 5 or 6 years in terms of sports and it's hard to expect casual fans to get excited about a team that's looking pretty bad over other teams that are exciting and up and coming.

TFC is a complete nonfactor though, btw. They have a rabid fanbase, but being a TFC fan is pretty niche. I go to games a few times a year and even went to one of the finals games a few years ago, but the city isnt hoping on the bandwagon for B level league the same way they did for the Raps or the Jay's during their runs.

[Pooh_Jeter]

To be fair, if Masai were to leave, and the team stay middle of the road or worse in this era of superteams, and seeming to have no chance to repeat the magic of 2019 with all its Jurassic Park hoopla, then yes I could see the Raps falling in the eyes of the average fan. Hopefully there will always be a hardcore enough to fill the arena if and when the team comes back to Scotiabank.

Exactly. No one is saying that the Raptors don't have a loyal following, its crazy they reached the heights of fandom they have when the Jays and Leafs have multiple generations of fans.

As you noted, if the Raptors are intent on just being decidedly average/boring their stock will fall in Toronto and across Canada. Sustained success with star players is what will put the Raptors truly on par or even above the Leafs and Jays.

[kalel123]

If Raptors have lost OP. Good riddance. You can GTFO.

As to Raptors losing Toronto, don't be ridiculous. Raptors have never had problems attracting enough fans even in the worst of the days and those loyal fans will still be there when going gets tough in rebuilding years. The bandwagon fans will be back soon enough once the team starts winning again. Just how things are in Toronto and you'd be a fool to think things would've changed a whole lot.

And we are in the middle of global pandemic for f's sake. I don't think a lot of people have watching professional sports on top of their minds right now anyhow.

[2019nbachamps]

Raptors have always had a strong fan base. It's not going away with our title and the city and country's growing population.

[beanbag]

To be fair, if Masai were to leave, and the team stay middle of the road or worse in this era of superteams, and seeming to have no chance to repeat the magic of 2019 with all its Jurassic Park hoopla, then yes I could see the Raps falling in the eyes of the average fan. Hopefully there will always be a hardcore enough to fill the arena if and when the team comes back to Scotiabank.

Exactly. No one is saying that the Raptors don't have a loyal following, its crazy they reached the heights of fandom they have when the Jays and Leafs have multiple generations of fans.

As you noted, if the Raptors are intent on just being decidedly average/boring their stock will fall in Toronto and across Canada. Sustained success with star players is what will put the Raptors truly on par or even above the Leafs and Jays.

So, your position is in order for the Raptors to maximize on their popularity in the city, they should try to be a good team all the time?

Biting commentary. Definitely worthy of a thread.

[execoftheyear]

*Lost all the bandwagoners

The true Raptors fans are here to stay

[Danny1616]

Its unfortunate that instead of respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion you have people denigrating where I live and that I didn't come from a rich family who brought me to Raptors games regularly. Trying to use where my immigrant parents chose to raise me as some sort of negative is uncalled for. I've actually seen the Raptors live multiple times when they have come out West.

1) Being wealthy doesn't have anything to do with this. I am not wealthy, and maybe go to 1 Raptors game a year (in the 300 level). Literally everyone in my friends circle are die hard Raptors fan. You go to more multi-cultural cities right outside Toronto like Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough, Markham etc. and basketball is easily the most popular sport. Literally, everyone here knows and supports the Raptors, doesn't matter if you are young or old etc. You will see people wearing Raptors gear everyday if you go outside. You see Raptors flags/symbols on cars/licence plates, on buildings etc.

Only if you go outside the Greater Toronto Area where it's much more homogeneous is hockey easily the #1 sport.

2) Yes, you are not from the GTA. I've been in Vancouver where basketball isn't even close to as popular. The Canucks reign supreme. I have a friend that moved from Toronto to Vancouver and even has difficulty getting a Raptors game turned on at a local bar. This is nothing against Vancouver, it's an incredible and beautiful city, but you just don't understand how popular basketball is in Toronto.

Toronto is a basketball powerhouse and has cemented itself as a top 5 NBA city along with LA, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

[Red_Claw]

Why do the Raptors attract such fragile fans?

[WeThe2019Champs]

We won a championship....

[kalel123]

Its unfortunate that instead of respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion you have people denigrating where I live and that I didn't come from a rich family who brought me to Raptors games regularly. Trying to use where my immigrant parents chose to raise me as some sort of negative is uncalled for. I've actually seen the Raptors live multiple times when they have come out West.

Maybe try having an opinion people can respectfully disagree with?

How do you even gauge whether the team has lost the city that you don't even live in when you obviously haven't got a clue how this team has fared over its history in this city through its ups and downs?

[Ramed Nazored]

Lol. “Rich family that took me to raptor games.”

Top level in the sky dome, pal. Nosebleeds. 500 level. After that it was sprite zone and scalpers until I finally landed jobs that allowed me to enjoy better seats.

Don’t assume things.

[Raptaz]

Lock it up.

OP is getting me to dislike jim Carrey a Lot.

Worst thing is when someone starts a thread and responds to every single post keeping it thr top thread.

I want to read about basketball facts not what your mind builds your world to be in your eyes .

[Raptaz]

Its unfortunate that instead of respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion you have people denigrating where I live and that I didn't come from a rich family who brought me to Raptors games regularly. Trying to use where my immigrant parents chose to raise me as some sort of negative is uncalled for. I've actually seen the Raptors live multiple times when they have come out West.

Maybe try having an opinion people can respectfully disagree with?

How do you even gauge whether the team has lost the city that you don't even live in when you obviously haven't got a clue how this team has fared over its history in this city through its ups and downs?

Lol raptors championship run turned puck heads into ballers.

The amount of basketball nets I've seen go up since has been amazing .

Raptors have toronto and the support of other countries lol.

Lol


LOL

[omar36]

fans will follow whoever is doing good lol.

[lolwut]

The craziest thing about OP's take is that OP is probably serious and not trolling.

[gsptheman]

Raptors just won the championship a couple of seasons ago.We’ve been a winning team for nearly a decade. Contrast that with the Jays championships decades back that the younger generation no longer remembers, or the leafs last championship in prehistoric times that only senior citizens witnessed.

Even if this is the end of an era, the Raptors remain the most successful team in recent memory.

The thing is, the Leafs have been mostly bad for essentially decades now and there has been little to no erosion in terms of fan support. As much as their first round exits have been a laughing stock, they ignite the city when they are even remotely good.

The Blue Jays have seen a dip in fan support no doubt, but I think Canada wide they have quite a following still and we saw that the moment they became relevant again the fan support sky rocketed.

No doubt the Raptors have been very successful, but they don't have the built in fan base those other two teams have. They NEED that star power and success to be at the top of the food chain. Being ehhh just doesn't cut it.

Raptors were still one of the top teams in attendance even in the Bargnani era.

Raptors fan base is huge and secure around the GTA.

Immigrants, minorities and young people easily prefer the Raptors over the Leafs.

You clearly don't live in the GTA.

All you have to do is look at the explosion of basketball talent and youth basketball programs over the past decade. The GTA has built a powerhouse basketball program that rivals some of the best cities in America. You see homegrown talent entering the NBA draft nearly every year.

brah raptors were struggling in the late 2000s attendance was **** and I think one of the seasons there TV ratings were like 50,000 viewers for season opener. Leafs fans were forced to buy raptors season tickets yall forget that?
Who said minorities are more into raptors? please stop making up these stuff up, if that was the case by now leafs would be finished since 50% of GTA is born outside of canada and yet raptors are not even close to jays popularity forget about the leafs. not even close...

[Pooh_Jeter]

Its unfortunate that instead of respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion you have people denigrating where I live and that I didn't come from a rich family who brought me to Raptors games regularly. Trying to use where my immigrant parents chose to raise me as some sort of negative is uncalled for. I've actually seen the Raptors live multiple times when they have come out West.

1) Being wealthy doesn't have anything to do with this. I am not wealthy, and maybe go to 1 Raptors game a year (in the 300 level). Literally everyone in my friends circle are die hard Raptors fan. You go to more multi-cultural cities right outside Toronto like Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough, Markham etc. and basketball is easily the most popular sport. Literally, everyone here knows and supports the Raptors, doesn't matter if you are young or old etc. You will see people wearing Raptors gear everyday if you go outside. You see Raptors flags/symbols on cars/licence plates, on buildings etc.

Only if you go outside the Greater Toronto Area where it's much more homogeneous is hockey easily the #1 sport.

2) Yes, you are not from the GTA. I've been in Vancouver where basketball isn't even close to as popular. The Canucks reign supreme. I have a friend that moved from Toronto to Vancouver and even has difficulty getting a Raptors game turned on at a local bar. This is nothing against Vancouver, it's an incredible and beautiful city, but you just don't understand how popular basketball is in Toronto.

Toronto is a basketball powerhouse and has cemented itself as a top 5 NBA city along with LA, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Basketball fandom doesn't equate directly to Raptors fandom. There is nothing in my post stating that basketball isn't popular or growing in Canada, its specific to the Raptors. They still have that championship glow, but it will quickly evaporate if the conditions don't improve.

How is it that you can speak definitively about the landscape of sports and basketball in Vancouver because of a friend, but i can't speak about a team I've followed for 20+ years and have multiple friends/family in the area?

With hockey starting up again and baseball on the near horizon the Raptors ratings and visibility will absolutely drop.

[Raptaz]

Its unfortunate that instead of respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion you have people denigrating where I live and that I didn't come from a rich family who brought me to Raptors games regularly. Trying to use where my immigrant parents chose to raise me as some sort of negative is uncalled for. I've actually seen the Raptors live multiple times when they have come out West.

1) Being wealthy doesn't have anything to do with this. I am not wealthy, and maybe go to 1 Raptors game a year (in the 300 level). Literally everyone in my friends circle are die hard Raptors fan. You go to more multi-cultural cities right outside Toronto like Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough, Markham etc. and basketball is easily the most popular sport. Literally, everyone here knows and supports the Raptors, doesn't matter if you are young or old etc. You will see people wearing Raptors gear everyday if you go outside. You see Raptors flags/symbols on cars/licence plates, on buildings etc.

Only if you go outside the Greater Toronto Area where it's much more homogeneous is hockey easily the #1 sport.

2) Yes, you are not from the GTA. I've been in Vancouver where basketball isn't even close to as popular. The Canucks reign supreme. I have a friend that moved from Toronto to Vancouver and even has difficulty getting a Raptors game turned on at a local bar. This is nothing against Vancouver, it's an incredible and beautiful city, but you just don't understand how popular basketball is in Toronto.

Toronto is a basketball powerhouse and has cemented itself as a top 5 NBA city along with LA, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Basketball fandom doesn't equate directly to Raptors fandom. There is nothing in my post stating that basketball isn't popular or growing in Canada, its specific to the Raptors. They still have that championship glow, but it will quickly evaporate if the conditions don't improve.

How is it that you can speak definitively about the landscape of sports and basketball in Vancouver because of a friend, but i can't speak about a team I've followed for 20+ years and have multiple friends/family in the area?

With hockey starting up again and baseball on the near horizon the Raptors ratings and visibility will absolutely drop.

You've made your point multiple times

What more can you really say ? Most will ignore or will see lost credibility when trying to speak on topics


Raptors have not lost toronto.

Lock it up. Make a post when all sport teams are playing and there a numbers to back up your point.

Shooting your load before actually putting in work LOL.

Oh yea Vancouver lost their team.. someone business guys crunched numbers and agreed Memphis... MEMPHIS has Vancouver's team that is a fact.

Want more ?

Canucks and white caps will do better in ratings than the Vancouver grizzlies that is a fact.


Last fact of the day, everything you write is purely speculative...FACT

[Yeezus_]

OP one of the least respected posters on this forum writes a couple paragraphs sharing an awful opinion. Yikes 2021 just started too.