Raptors Re-Branding: Name Change?

[Axel]

But the colour on the uniform is not going to help create a winning culture.. so why change it at all?
Branding is for marketing.. If I wanted the Raptors to make a sh!t load of money then I'd consider changing everything to try and get other people into the product too.

But I personally identify a team with the city they play in.. and when I think of Toronto sports I think the colour blue.

I dont want them to change anything except the product on the court. I'd be fine with the old purple uniforms if it means they make the playoffs. I am 100% against a name change

[The Great One]

Raptors need to bring back the purple jerseys. Like the one on Mr. Z`s avatar. It`s a great jersey, and has more history than the Toronto Huskies.

That really is the only change i want to see them make. I am 110% against a name change. I think it would be disastrous.

[white men can't jump]

I've said it many times...I just don't like the name Raptors, largely it comes from velociraptor, and only partly because the genesis of the team name has to do with a hollywood blockbuster. It's already been said in this thread...Raptors are hardly the dinosaur most people think...because the way they were portrayed in Jurassic Park was completely baseless. They mostly used information about other similar dinosaurs (bigger ones too, btw).

Velociraptors are basically scavenging turkeys with pointy claws. So basically, we're the Toronto Extinct Turkeys. That just doesn't fly with me (no pun intended). There's nothing about the current image, logo, and name that evoke anything special to anyone other than die-hard fans who would probably follow them even if their name was the Toronto Extinct Turkeys. What history and tradition? Mediocrity, poor management and shitty attempts to build around one all-star at a time? That's no tradition to be proud of. I am proud to cheer for the Raptors, but not because of their name or their tradition. Rather because they are Toronto's team. This would be true no matter what there name/image is, so why not change it to something with some meaning..or you know, where the image it conjures actually reflects the true meaning.....

My 2 favorite totally new names....
-Wolverines....Canadian, bad-ass, could probably rip a real velociraptor to shreds given that they're notoriously ferocious animals that can take down larger prey (even Moose!), and fight off larger animals (even Polar and Grizzly bears!). Downside is two-fold. First that it also has a pop-culture image associated to it from the comic book character. Second that Michigan U uses the name (which is annoying since there are no wolverines in Michigan).
-Mammoths....Sure, extinct...but at least it's heavily associated with North America, and the ice age. It conjures images of strength in the face of the harshest conditions without making a direct reference to winter or the North.

Also I am somewhat ok with keeping the same name, but totally changing the image. Raptor means bird of prey. So I see a legit option as trying to rebrand the team with the image of some kind of bird. The big problem there is the Atlanta Hawks. It would be hard to design logos/designs that are different enough. One idea is to pick the Owl, but keep the team name as Raptors. The Snowy Owl is one of the largest birds of prey on the continent and obviously mostly found in Canada. Canada's also home to falcons, eagles, hawks, etc...In fact....if they just wanted to call them Owls of some kind, I'd be cool with that. Canada is home to some pretty impressive owls.

Bottom line: I've disliked the name Raptors since they announced it as a choice. And I was an impressionable kid who liked Jurassic Park as a movie. I still thought it was fucking crazy. Makes no sense. At the time I would've taken any other option...Towers, Dragons..I don't care. Even Dragons, at least they could've milked two separate mythological interpretations of the animal to milk both Euro and East Asian groups.

[phez]

So a comic book character influence is much better than a dinosaur movie reference. Gotcha.

[white men can't jump]

So a comic book character influence is much better than a dinosaur movie reference. Gotcha.

IT's not to refer to the comic book character. Google "wolverine animal"....The character was named after the animal, not the other way around.

*even then, at least the way the character is portrayed in the comic book is truer to the animal than the way raptors are portrayed in their movie.

It's all about having a name that actually means what it's fucking supposed to

[black angus]

My 2 favorite totally new names....
-Wolverines....Canadian, bad-ass, could probably rip a real velociraptor to shreds given that they're notoriously ferocious animals that can take down larger prey (even Moose!), and fight off larger animals (even Polar and Grizzly bears!). Downside is two-fold. First that it also has a pop-culture image associated to it from the comic book character. Second that Michigan U uses the name (which is annoying since there are no wolverines in Michigan).

Lets not forget about the other association to the word Wolverine - the name assumed by a band of teenage paramilitary outlaws in the 80's classic Red Dawn - 100% bad ass

[Mr.Z]

Does anyone actually know what a Wolverine looks like? It's even less cooler looking than our vicious turkey's. It looks like a badger.

[Nilanka]

For me, the accuracy of the biology is of little concern. The chosen name of "Raptors" represents NBA basketball in Toronto...and Canada. Regardless of the original motivation of the name, "Raptors" has meaning to me. I would likely feel this way about any name selected 18 years ago, no matter how silly it seems today. After all, the Lakers have one of the most inaccurate team names in sports, but they don't seem to mind.

I'm all in for a uniform re-design, but stick with "Raptors" for the sake of continuity/tradition....even if there's very little positive memories associated with it. How great would it be when we [finally] climb back up the ladder of respectability with the original team name in tact?

[Mr.Z]

[Mr.Z]

I agree with Nilanka. Especially that second paragraph.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Lets not forget about the other association to the word Wolverine - the name assumed by a band of teenage paramilitary outlaws in the 80's classic Red Dawn - 100% bad ass

I think the biggest mistake with "Wolverines" as a potential name is the fact that Americans already have a strong association with the University of Michigan. The "Raptors" are a unique sports name, allowing them to stand out in the American market, where the lone Canadian NBA team is trying to gain traction.

Switching names to a common school name (same problem I have with "Huskies") that is immediately identifiable to a completely different team, is a bad idea. There is no way a Toronto NBA franchise will ever take the top-of-mind spot for the name "Wolverines" away from Michigan (not just in the US), so why bother?

If the team is going to explore new options, they should pick something that is associated with Toronto/Ontario and is unique in the world of collegiate/professional sports, so that it will be easily recognizable as Toronto's NBA team.

Personally, I agree with Nilanka's post (#263). I hated the "Raptors" name back in 1995, but the uniqueness has enabled Toronto's NBA franchise to create an identity. Our image is in dire need or a makeover, but the complete overhauling of the team's management is a step in the right direction. Winning consistently is the next step, which is far more important than trivial things like team name, colors, logo, jersey designs, etc...

[golden]

I thought we agreed on The Sasquatch. UNBELIEVABLE branding opportunities there. LOL. And is there anything more bad-ass than a Sasquatch? The Loch Ness monster, perhaps?

I think we need a poll with a list of potential names. IMO, Wolverines and Huskies are too common and college / high-school'ish sounding.

[Apollo]

Before they hired Ujiri I think the following name and slogan would be fitting

The Toronto Beavers: "We don't give a dam."

[Primer]

This thread is about rebranding. Everyone with your "clever" "The only brand I wanna see changed is the winning on the court" has no fucking bearing on the branding (e.g. Team name, colors, jerseys) so stop already. We are all perfectly aware that changing the team name or colors will have no effect on the on-court play. The idea of rebranding is basically to sell more merch. Please keep that in mind before you start with another clever rant about how it doesn't matter until we start winning. We've got like 35 of those posts already, don't need another.

Wolverines is a sweet name but not a good one for rebranding due to it's massive popularity as the Michigan mascot. Toronto is not going to steal that thunder. UConn is an infinitely less popular program so I don't see using Huskies confusing anyone, but I'll throw out some other ideas.

Owls (Snowy, Great, etc...)
Regiment
Guard
Imperials
Falls
Towers
Skyline
Blizzard

I wish I could think of more non-animal names that are associated with Canada (or Toronto). As I noted earlier, only 8 teams in the NBA are named after animals and other than the Bulls they are all very unpopular. If we're making the change I'd like to shift away from animal names if possible.

[white men can't jump]

It still just really annoys me that the image is associated to a complete distortion of what some dinosaur may have been.

And it really annoys me that the Hawks have pretty much taken the image of birds of prey. It really makes it hard to change the branding to keep the Raptors name, but use the literal meaning and have some sort of bird-associated design (again, I feel like owls are probably the most natural option for Canada).

I just checked wikipedia and apparently the Canadian Horse (don't know what makes it such a special breed) is a national animal as well.

I don't know why I'm focusing on Canadian things. I'm mostly just trying to think of a fitting animal, and most live in several or all parts of the country.

I have a really hard time thinking of anything cultural. Nothing that evokes a sense of British colonialism is good. I would hate any name that somehow makes reference to that aspect of our history. Clearly it's pretty impossible to think of a plant symbol as good as the maple tree/leaf. I also think branding the team something too wintery is inappropriate for Toronto as a city, and lame for a basketball team name.

It's really difficult to change the image of the team in any way. And that's kind of unfortunate. You know they'll look into it hard with the 20th anniversary and potentially hosting an all-star game coming up....They'd at least want to change the jerseys if they can.