Leafs vs Raptors:

[mapleleafs34]

Anyone that thinks Raps > Leafs in this city is completely delusional.

It'll show when they go on a playoff run.

 

[egd27]

Who are these Raptors that you speak of?

 

[keonsbitterness]

Nothing is bigger than the Leafs. Not even Jebus. Especially in Toronto.

Ha, shoutout to John Lennon.

Now that Toronto is less then 50 % white, and minorities gravitate to the Raptors, I think the Raptors are 1st.

Forbes also has the Raptors being worth about 1 billion more then the leafs. So this is easily the Raps now. It's not 2003.

Franchise value is highly tied to broadcast revenues, and the NBA is way ahead of the NHL in that area.

 

[justashadowof]

My experiences are that your average big Leafs' fan is often still somewhat interested in the Raptors while your average big Raptors' fan has zero interest in the Leafs.

It isn't the NBA marketing IMO, it's the US media's free promotion of it relative to the NHL. It has improved from decades ago but as a general rule the US media hates the NHL and treats it as a joke and not a respectable sport.

 

[ACC1224]

I find the NBA to be a pretty terrible product and the players seem out of touch with the real world and generally easy to dislike.

 

[torontoblood]

In what year did you leave? I think among Toronto people in 2023, they gravitate to the Raptors from my experience and what I see. I'm a white guy (but also a minority) here among many southasian people who are all obsessed with the raptors and don't really like hockey, only from my experience and who I speak with. But at a bigger level throughout Canada, the leafs may be more popular... so depending on location within Canada would effect which one is more popular.

Plenty of white folks love the raptors and the sport of basketball. You make it seem like white folks only follow the leafs( or the jays).

Anyway my personal ranking of toronto major sports teams, in order of preference:

#1. Raptors= Maple Leafs

#2. Jays

My observations In the GTA

Halton hills region : leafs
Durham region : leafs
Peel region: raptors
Toronto proper(416) : raptors
York region: leafs = raptors

For the Boomers (born between 1945 and 1964) and generation x (born between 1965 and 1981) the leafs are definitely more popular than the raptors. Not even close .

For the Older millenials( millenials born in the 1980s, 1981-1989, the millenial generation is people born between the years of 1981 and 1996) leafs =raps

Younger millenials(those born between 1990 and 1996), Generation Z(1997-2012) and generation alpha (kids born after 2013) :raps > leafs


Of course the buds own the rest of ontario( guelph, hamilton, cornwall, lindsay, chatham-kent, parry sound, sudbury, thunder bay, kingston, barrie, midland, leamington, cambridge, london, (ottawa), kitchener, peterborough, belleville, windsor, brantford, st-catharines, niagara on the lake, north bay, orillia, etc)

 

[Christ]

Can't speak for others but for me I love my Leafs and will follow them closely through the good and the bad. I have some interest in the Jays but only really follow them closely when they are good. I have some interest in the Raptors as well but mostly because they are a Toronto team as I don't really care for basketball. While I watch/listen the Leafs when I can and will watch/listen to the Jays, I rarely watch basketball and only really do so when the team is good and when the games actually mean something.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Personally, I find basketball really boring.

Seems like just end to end hotdogging: team A scores, then team B scores, then team A scores, then team B scores, then team C scores, then team A scores, then for variety team B misses, then rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

Even the year the Raptors won, I couldn't watch an entire game, even in the finals.

I love hockey, and watch baseball, football, rugby, the CFL, and I'll even watch NFL playoff games, but basketball is just too tedious.

Also a huge fan of Irish hurling!

 

[1specter]

Plenty of white folks love the raptors and the sport of baskwbvall. You make it seem like white folks only follow the leafs( or the jays).

Anyway to me

#1. Raptors= Maple Leafs
#2. Jays

My observations In the GTA

Halton hills region : leafs
Durham regiom : leafs
Peel region: raptors
Toronto proper(416) : raptors
York region: leafs = raptors

For the Boomers and generation x: leafs > raps definitely

For the Older millenials( millenials born in the 1980s) leafs =raps

Younger millenials(those born between 1990 and 1996)/ Generation Z(1997-2012)/generation alpha (kids born after 2013) :raps > leafs
.

Of course the buds own rest of ontario( guelph, hamilton,cornwall, lindsay, chatham-kent, parry sound, sudbury, thunder bay, kingston, barrie, midland, leamington, cambridge, london, (ottawa), kitchener, peteborough, belleville, windsor, brantford, st-catharines, niagara on the lake, north bay, orillia, etc)

This is a pretty accurate take IMO. As a minority millennial myself I can confirm that Raptors and NBA are overwhelmingly more popular amongst minority and even some white people in the millennial generation and onwards.

HFBoards is a bit out of touch with reality as most of the board is boomer or gen X white guys, and there's a lot of anecdotal experience ignoring the statistical growth of basketball from both TV/media popularity of NBA and grassroots level here, along with reach amongst different demographics (cost and ice availability is a big barrier to hockey).

 

[torontoblood]

I find the NBA to be a pretty terrible product and the players seem out of touch with the real world and generally easy to dislike.

Do you think Kyle Lowry is easy to dislike? What do you mean by <generally easy to dislike>?

Nba players are just like other athletes to me. Not much differences between nba players and nhl/nfl/mlb/soccer players. I dont see nba players as more despicable than the others.

 

[1specter]

Do you think Kyle Lowry is easy to dislike? What do you mean by <generally easy to dislike>?

Nba players are just like other athletes to me. Not much differences beteeen nba players and nhl/nfl/mlb/soccer players. I dont see nba players as more despicable than the others.

The out of touch with real world comment is also a bit strange. Many NBA players came from impoverished or hard backgrounds where they grew up in pretty poor circumstances. If anything hockey boys often come from affluent and sheltered backgrounds.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Do you think Kyle Lowry is easy to dislike? What do you mean by <generally easy to dislike>?
Nba players are just like other athletes to me. Not much differences beteeen nba players and nhl/nfl/mlb/soccer players. I dont see nba players as more despicable than the others.

It was a very odd statement indeed. I wonder what would be different about your average NBA player relative to your average NHL player that somebody would dislike...

 

[stats1]

I went to the parade in 2019 it was a wild! Never seen so many people in the downtown core at one time in all my life. You couldn’t walk. Nathan Phillips square was a gong show. You couldn’t move. That’s partly on the city not being prepared but I can’t imagine the crowd size of the Leafs won the Cup. One thing is for sure I wouldn’t be going lol I’ll just take a few days off work, watch on my tv and drink my face off and celebrate in the comfort of my home lol

The wife and I left at 5:30 in the morning and by the time we got to Nathan Phillips square there we’re already 5-7 rows deep of people waiting. A lot of them slept over night

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Who are these Raptors that you speak of?

 

[AvroArrow]

It's a cultural thing, I come from an immigrant family myself and with immigrant families the Raptors seem to be the bigger team between the 2. With Canadian born families, the Leafs seem to be the bigger team between them.

IMO The Leafs are still Torontos team, but the Raptors are right there. I love them both so doesn't really matter to me. The new generation of kids in Toronto is also heavily influenced by American culture a lot, mainly New York. So naturally they're pulled more towards the NBA than NHL.

I think it is absolutely a cultural thing though. I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way but when we see crowds at Raptors game it's very diverse. You've got tons of Carribean people, Jamaican people, Indian people, Asian people, European people etc etc. It's a very mixed crowd, but when we see Leafs games on TV, the crowd looks to be 90%+ white Canadians/Europeans.

 

[egd27]

View attachment 689929

Oh, very cool.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings ?

Kawhi was on a team before the Clippers ?

 

[notDatsyuk]

It's a cultural thing, I come from an immigrant family myself and with immigrant families the Raptors seem to be the bigger team between the 2. With Canadian born families, the Leafs seem to be the bigger team between them.

IMO The Leafs are still Torontos team, but the Raptors are right there. I love them both so doesn't really matter to me. The new generation of kids in Toronto is also heavily influenced by American culture a lot, mainly New York. So naturally they're pulled more towards the NBA than NHL.

I think it is absolutely a cultural thing though. I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way but when we see crowds at Raptors game it's very diverse. You've got tons of Carribean people, Jamaican people, Indian people, Asian people, European people etc etc. It's a very mixed crowd, but when we see Leafs games on TV, the crowd looks to be 90%+ white Canadians/Europeans.

The bolded is true, but I don't think it should be considered reflective of the overall fanbase.

Most of the seats are held by season ticket owners, and many are now in the second or third generation. Also many are held by companies (again, long held), and the corporate world is still largely white.

 

[Osmows OReilly]

I’ll say this: I work part time at a grocery store in Scarborough and see people of all ages, races, etc. wearing Leafs, Jays, and Raptors apparel. It’s actually so close that one team doesn’t dominate the others.

FWIW, I’ve always felt that the Jays are most popular team overall based on gear worn and fan attendance but obviously that’s not a good indicator of the size of a fan base.

Leafs should remain the most popular team in the whole GTA for the foreseeable future however in the city proper it’s impossible to tell.

 

[Auston Marlander]

I saw your location is Nova Scotia and mine is mostly Toronto (when I'm in Canada). So that probably has something to do with our paradigm.

I was born in TO, grow up in the GTA then lived in TO for 15 years and now and 45 minutes away for the last 2. You are wrong.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It's been quite a while since I lived in T.O.

In a recent thread elsewhere on this board, I read more than one person say that the Raptors are now bigger than the Leafs in the city nowadays,

So, if the Leafs make it to the Stanley Cup finals this spring, do the people here who know the city now expect that the level of enthusiasm won't rise to the level that the Raptors inspired a few years ago?

I want to see that thread because whoever said that is wrong

 

[TorMapleJays]

It's been quite a while since I lived in T.O.

In a recent thread elsewhere on this board, I read more than one person say that the Raptors are now bigger than the Leafs in the city nowadays,

So, if the Leafs make it to the Stanley Cup finals this spring, do the people here who know the city now expect that the level of enthusiasm won't rise to the level that the Raptors inspired a few years ago?

Here are Leaf fans after beating out Ottawa in seven games.

 

[Budz22]

I find the NBA to be a pretty terrible product and the players seem out of touch with the real world and generally easy to dislike.

 

[Stephen]

Might be surprising to some, but as a Torontonian, you are actually allowed to follow the Leafs, Raptors and Jays all at once, go to each teams home games on different nights, go to Maple Leafs Square and Jurassic Park in different runs, own different merch...

 

[Sypher04]

It was a very odd statement indeed. I wonder what would be different about your average NBA player relative to your average NHL player that somebody would dislike...

I assume it’s about the current state of stardom in the NBA, and how players force their ways out of teams and create super teams on the regular. I also think NBA games are too heavily influenced by individuals over team. This is good in theory, as it raises the prominence of your stars and can be entertaining, but I think it has created a huge power imbalance (even between stars & management) and I think it also make the product much more predictable.