All of Canada has gone into full party mode following the Toronto Raptors historic championship run. Just check the tapes from last night, it was quite a party.
The Raptors felt the wind at their back as they tried to close out the Golden State Warriors, with a whole country backing them. Call the fan base bandwagoners if you must, but a unified group of proud fans is hard to play against. The run smashed all sorts of Canadian records.
Add post-championship merchandise to that as well. We all heard about the Raptors store consistently selling out of jerseys and other merchandise during the playoffs, but since then it’s upticked even further.
It makes sense that they would have beat out last year, as the Warriors had already established themselves as a Championship team when they took home their 3rd title in 4 years. But 80% increase in sales over the previous record is nothing to sneeze at.
It likely has to do with the combination of this being Toronto’s first title, the wide spread fandom (I mean, there’s a whole country), and the overall pride and loyalty Canadians have shown their team.
It may also have something to do with people feeling more comfortable to commit to a certain player’s merch. After all, it’s more likely he’ll be around next year than ever before.
(H/T Blake Murphy)
