How the Raptors Redefined Fan Engagement During the 2019 NBA Playoffs

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When the Toronto Raptors took the 2019 NBA Championship to Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors, it was an epic moment. Not only was it Toronto’s first NBA title, but it was also the first time that the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy came North of the US border. And while that’s history-making on its own; it’s eclipsed by how the team, the owners, the media, and an entire country won the title for best fan engagement. This wasn’t by accident—there was a deliberate, full-court press that extended well beyond the arena. Let’s dive into how this played out.

1. The Team
It’s no secret that raving fans spend more than casual fans on ticket sales, merchandising, and sports-related digital/media subscriptions, to name a few. While some fans are passionately loyal to a specific team, others uk cell phone number list want to see their favorite players—or a combination of the two.

Raving fans can take time to develop, and their affinity to a specific player can take several seasons. This means the team, including the coach, is key to building and nurturing fans—which can take time to develop with each game, press briefing, media interview, etc.

Based on these principles, those responsible for the Raptors Fan Experience organization faced significant challenges. From the start of the 2018-2019 season, general manager Masai Ujiri made decisions that went against the traditional Fan Engagement playbook that usually leverages the fan-favorite players and head coach. Instead, Urjiri:
and won coach of the year honors the year he was let go (awkward!).
Promoted Casey’s assistant coach Nick Nurse to head coach (Nurse’s first time coaching an NBA team).
In a shocking series of trades, let go of fan favorites DeMar DeRozan (gasp!), C.J. Miles, and Jonas Valančiūnas.
Added the legendary Kawhi Leonard, who allegedly didn’t like Toronto, was injured, avoided press/media, and worst of all—didn’t use social media (for real).
Enter Drake and Superfan Nav
When the foundation of your fan experience program loses its fan-favorite players, fires its beloved head coach, and brings on new, media-shy players—you need a plan B. Enter Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia, who hasn’t missed a home game in 23 years and is anything but camera-shy. Fans love him, and he’s served as one of the Raptors’ best fan-facing representatives, attending media days and acting as the Master of Ceremonies at the Raptors’ Championship Parade.

Then there was Drake. Love, hate, or be indifferent to him or his music, there’s no contesting that he brought his A-game and was highly effective in garnering additional media coverage for his courtside antics. Many viewers admitted to tuning in to the NBA playoff games to see what Drake was up to. He was courtside for the Raptors at each home game, attended Jurassic Park viewing parties in Toronto for away games, and was also part of the Championship Parade.