Luca Monadjem - Sports Marketing Concepts and Strategy Research Assignment (1)

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Toronto Metropolitan University *

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Jan 9, 2024

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Sports Marketing Concepts and Strategy Research Assignment Luca Monadjem Friday, October 7 MKT 828 - 011 Marla Spergel
1 The Toronto Raptors Year of Establishment The Toronto Raptors were established in 1995, making them one of the youngest teams in the NBA. The NBA, established in 1946, was composed of only American teams until the Toronto Raptors joined 27 years ago. Senior Management Masai Ujiri - President, Vice Chairman, Alternate NBA Governor Ujiri began his career in the NBA as a scout for the Orlando Magic in 2002, later being hired by the Denver Nuggets. In 2008, Ujiri was offered a managing staff role for the Toronto Raptors (Irving, 2021). After 2 years, he returned as a general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations for the Denver Nuggets. Ujiri thrived in this role and was instrumental in the Nuggets’ return to playoff basketball. In the summer of 2016, Masai Ujiri made his return as general manager and president of basketball operations for the Raptors, playing a key part in winning the team’s first NBA Championship in 2019 (Novak, 2021) Nick Nurse - Head Coach Nick Nurse is a professional basketball coach who has been at the forefront of the Raptors’ success since 2018. Nurse is known for having an extensive resume, with the most coaching experience of any coach in the NBA (32 years), and a unique, challenging coaching style (Yan, 2022). Nurse assumed the role of head coach for the Toronto Raptors after serving as assistant coach on Dwayne Casey’s coaching staff from 2014-2018. With that experience in the NBA, he
2 was able to quickly adapt and thrive when his name was called, becoming one of the only head coaches in NBA history to win a championship in their first year as a head coach (2019). 2021-2022 Season Record and Standings The Toronto Raptors ended the 2021-2022 season with a 48-34 record, an outstanding 58.5% win percentage, and the 5th best record in the eastern conference, while maintaining a top 10 record in the NBA. The Raptors’ young and revamped team faced a more experienced Philadelphia 76ers squad in the first round of the NBA playoffs, losing the best-of-7 series in 6 games (Rosales, 2022). The highlight of the season was most likely the emergence of Rookie of the Year winner Scottie Barnes. Scottie’s consistent performance and charisma has quickly established him as a fan favourite. Furthermore, his talent level and personality indicate that the Raptors are heading in the right direction, and building a strong, resilient foundation for the future. Struggles and Fan Engagement During Covid 19 The Toronto Raptors as well as Toronto in general were significantly impacted by Covid 19. Being the only team in the NBA outside of the United States, Canadian legislation and regulations regarding Covid 19 made it extremely difficult to maintain a consistent game schedule and fan presence from March 2020 until as recently as April 2022. During that hectic 2 year period, the Toronto Raptors saw empty arenas on a consistent basis, had to relocate to Tampa, Florida in order to be able to play against teams in the United States, and dealt with dozens of injuries and absences related to Covid (Rose, 2021). The Raptors implemented multiple initiatives in order to maintain fan presence and support including virtual fans, drive-in
3 viewing parties, etc. The marketing and hospitality efforts made by the organization and its staff during such a tumultuous time ensured that, when normalcy was reestablished, the Toronto Raptors and its fan base would be stronger than ever. These efforts have, fortunately, had a tangible and positive impact on the entire organization. Engagement Through Digital Media Recognizing the emergence of social media in today’s global marketing landscape, the Toronto Raptors have made it a priority to strive to achieve a level of intimacy and transparency with their fan base which would simply not be attainable if not for today’s emphasis on social media marketing and communication. One example of this is “Open Gym”, which is a series of behind the scenes videos varying in content made in collaboration with Bell. This series offers Raptors fans a view of the team’s internal operations, whether that be contract negotiations, draft decisions, or team practices, which allows them to interact with the franchise with a rare level of intimacy (Denette, 2021). The “Digital Arena” is a concept that MLSE introduced for both the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs during the pandemic in order to increase and retain fan engagement. The Digital Arena is an app that allows for interactive games, trivia, and prize draws during live games. The interactive aspect of the app was clearly the priority for MLSE when developing this concept, “The idea is to give fans at home some of what they got at Scotiabank Arena. For tip-off of Raptors games, for example, they can click on a team logo to jointly increase the noise meter. And you can see what's on the arena Jumbotron.” (Davidson, 2021) Initiatives such as these ensured that when exiting the pandemic, the Raptors would be able to maintain such momentum
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