Raptors Int'l Roster = MLSE Revenue Streams?

[golden]

This article got me thinking about that Raptors international flavour. Could it be that an additional motivation for the Raps having a higher proportion of foreign players, are new growth markets for MLSE to promote the Raptors brand?

The Raps are also going to London in 2011 to play a regular season game against the Nets. Is marketing genius Richard Peddie behind the Euro movement? Did we draft Nate Jawai and signed David Anderson to tap into the Australian market?

Discuss.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/spo...=Google+Reader

Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon are more popular than Dwight Howard? Could it be true?

It is. Kind of.

This morning, the NBA released its annual list of its most popular jerseys in Europe. The Orlando Magic center ranked eighth overall.

Kobe Bryant tops the list for the third year in a row.

He’s followed by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol and Kevin Garnett.

Bargnani, who was born in Italy, is sixth. Calderon, who hails from Spain, is seventh.

The list is based on sales from retail locations across Europe during the 2009-10 NBA season.

Here’s the full list:

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers*
3. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
4. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
5. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
6. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
7. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors
8. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
9. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
10. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
11. Danilo Gallinari, New York Knicks
12. Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
13. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
14. Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics
15. Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets

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[OzRapFan]

From the Australian standpoint, no! Basketball in this country is as popular as surfing is in Siberia, I doubt 1% of the population would even know who Andersen or Jawai are.

[Jaworski]

I'll bet my VC raptor Jersey that next year LINAS KLEIZA's Jersey will be in the top 10...

...in Lithuania

[golden]

Just to add a bit of info, this article seems to imply that the Raptors were proactive in securing the game in London in 2001 and that Europe and China are a priority growth market for the NBA. Yi Jianlian, here we come.....

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/08/09/l...ser/index.html

"The Raptors stepped up and said because they are very much an internationally focused team, they would like to be considered," Stern said. "And Mr. Prokhorov, when he bought the team, made it clear he would like very much to travel.

"Europe is, for us, second to China as a potential revenue source, and we shall continue to develop in Europe," Stern said. "We have a presence in large European cities and we are going to keep working there with respect to all of the things we do, which is clinics and grass roots events, marketing and marketing partnerships, global merchandising, and television and Internet arrangements.

@ Jaworski: Lithuania IS a priority. Lol.

"So we view Europe as a particularly fertile place, and we think that we are particularly under developed in Eastern Europe, as well, and that's something we'll have something to say about in the next several months, as well."

[Edgar]

Well I can finish this discussion quickly..... Jersey sales are league-wide shared revenue. The NBA as a whole own all the merchandising rights to everything with a "Official product of the NBA" tag on it. The only team-specific revenue is sponsorships and ticket sales to my knowledge...

[golden]

Well I can finish this discussion quickly..... Jersey sales are league-wide shared revenue. The NBA as a whole own all the merchandising rights to everything with a "Official product of the NBA" tag on it. The only team-specific revenue is sponsorships and ticket sales to my knowledge...

Thanks, Edgar. I just learned something new. Here are a couple of great articles on league revenue, sharing, ticket pricing, etc... The Raptors are considered one of the better teams in terms of revenue generating, with most of that coming from ticket sales, supported by high prices.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/12031620

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/12031628

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/11934840

The widening chasm between the league's money-making teams and those fighting over the crumbs was never more evident than in this summer's free-agent market. Teams like the Celtics, Lakers, Cavaliers, Spurs, Mavericks, Pistons and Raptors -- a murderer's row of revenue -- went on spending sprees. The teams that can't sell enough tickets or charge enough for them sat on the sideline. Worse, some shed payroll in salary-dump deals designed to keep the franchises viable on an increasingly lopsided playing field.

In the 2008-09 season, nine teams accounted for roughly half the ticket revenue in the 30-team NBA, according to the league data: the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Suns, Bulls, Cavaliers, Warriors, Mavericks and Raptors. The reasons vary from location and pricing power to, in some cases, the luck of the draft lottery. Cleveland, for example, is a small-market team that is well above the league average in all ticket-revenue categories because of the presence of You-Know-Who.

[Edgar]

Wowsers, I never thought ticket revenues were THAT lopsided...

[Raptorsss]

Forbes.com has some good information about the teams financial situations for the 2008-09 season. For example, Toronto is 11th in franchise value and was top 10 in revenue.

Edit: But considering how large the Toronto market is, it should strive to be in top 5 for team value.