The Toronto Raptors named hip-hop star, Drake, as a team ambassador today, making him the third musical artist in the last couple of years to invest in an NBA team (Jay-Z and the Nets; Will Smith and the 76ers). The Raptors have struggled since entering the league as an expansion team in 1995 as they have only made the second round of the playoffs once - in 2001 with Vince Carter as their star. In addition to poor play on the court, the team has not been able to draw attendance despite the large Toronto market.
Obviously, the fact that the Raptors are generally terrible at basketball has not helped them put fans in the seats. There is the added element that the people in Canada just generally do not care that much about basketball as hockey is the only true national sport there.
Insert Drake. The Toronto Raptors are trying to pull a Brooklyn Nets here by bringing in a hip-hop mogul to serve as the face of the franchise. Drake's actual involvement will likely be minimal in the day-to-day, but he'll be front and center at games and will probably serve as a primary spokesperson for the team. Basketball and business decisions will be made behind close doors by others, but Drake will be the smiling face to help deliver the news.
So what does this mean for the Raptors moving forward? From a basketball standpoint, not much. Free agents and franchise-altering players are not overly interested in moving to Toronto. It's cold, they have to compete with hockey and taxes are a bit more taxing than, say, Miami. The Raptors are still shackled with high-paid players who just don't deliver.
From a business standpoint, I will be interested to see what happens with Drake. Jay-Z transformed the Nets, taking them from a franchise that has to give away tickets for basically free to a team of swag-stars that sells out the Barclays Center despite mediocre results. Of course, Jay-Z didn't have everything to do with this. Mikhail Prokhorov has cavernous pockets and isn't afraid to spend money to improve his team. Running the Nets to him isn't a business investment like so many NBA owners. But the allure of Jay-Z - a legend in the rap game - and his consultancy helped expedite the transformation process for the Nets.
Drake isn't Jay-Z. Maple Lead Sports and Entertainment (Raptors' owners) and Prokorhov are a little different in how they conduct business. The Raptors don't have the roster that the Nets do.
But I will be interested to see how this plays out. Like it or not, rap artists have ties to the athlete community and do hold influence in some form there. I'm not suggesting that Drake is going to bring LeBron to Toronto in 2014--especially in light of his Miami locker room fail after the Heat won in June--but I do think he'll benefit the Raptors as a business. And I don't think that he'll be the last rap star to join the ranks of an NBA team either.
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