MLSE execs have "set a target price for companies interested in advertising on the jerseys" of the Raptors, according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. Sources said that the ads are worth C$4-5M. The NBA BOG is "expected to vote this month" on whether to "permit jersey ads" for the '17-18 season. During their sales pitches, MLSE staff "discussed prospect ads of about two-and-a-half inches in diameter" -- the same size as the Kia ad that appeared on the NBA All-Star Game jerseys this year in Toronto. MLSE is "anxious to make its case" that the ads are worth as much as C$5M a season "because officials are concerned that marketers might try to use contract values secured by smaller-market teams as comparables" (TSN.ca, 4/5).
ALL ABOARD: The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson writes the Raptors are "worth trying this season," and the bandwagon is "just getting fired up." Stinson: "If you have watched them at all, and ... judging from the television ratings you have not, you would know that they are a seriously compelling team." The Raptors’ recent history in the playoffs "has not been the stuff to inspire a nation." But the antipathy from the rest of Canada is "still a bit of a puzzle." The Raptors on March 26 "had an audience of about 130,000 on TSN for a prime-time game" against the Pelicans, "or less than 10% of the Hockey Night in Canada audience that same evening, which featured a bunch of Canadian teams jostling for draft lottery position." Among the sports events that "outdrew that Raptors audience that weekend, other than NHL hockey: curling, golf, NCAA basketball, figure skating and spring training Blue Jays baseball" (NATIONAL POST, 4/6).
