{"id":72938,"date":"2025-08-16T01:18:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T01:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/72938\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T01:18:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T01:18:06","slug":"nba-makes-a-definitive-statement-on-whether-they-believe-in-the-raptors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/72938\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA makes a definitive statement on whether they believe in the Raptors"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the recent release of the 2025-26 NBA regular season schedule<\/a>, Raptors fans were likely focused on what Toronto’s lineup of adversaries would look like early on, such as the new-look Atlanta Hawks<\/a>, or key storylines, such as Brandon Ingram\u2019s return to New Orleans in March<\/a> as the Raptors face the Pelicans. <\/p>\n

However, looking ahead to the Raptors’ upcoming season, you’ll notice that Toronto only has two games scheduled for national television broadcast in the United States: against the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 24 on Peacock, and versus the Chicago Bulls on February 5 on Prime.<\/p>\n

Limited national TV exposure for Raptors hints at NBA’s confidence level<\/p>\n

For contrast, let’s examine two other Eastern Conference teams on a similar plane to the Toronto Raptors: the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic. The Hawks enjoy the benefit of 13 nationally televised games, while the Magic have 14.<\/p>\n

I doubt any conscientious Raptors fan would confidently claim that the NBA is largely on their side. At the same time, I wouldn\u2019t say there\u2019s some grand conspiracy against the Raptors just because they\u2019re not a U.S.-based franchise (though I do think that doesn\u2019t help). Still, it\u2019s pretty easy for the NBA to prioritize other teams over Toronto for a variety of reasons. <\/p>\n

Some immediate thoughts that come to mind are the Raptors’ limited crossover appeal beyond the border and the absence of household names for a casual audience. Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and their cast mates are undeniably talented, but I don\u2019t know many people eager to tune in just to watch them play \u2014 unless you’re a die-hard Raptors fan.<\/p>\n

And let’s be real for a second. The Raptors were just a lottery team last season. <\/p>\n

While folks like myself and other optimistic fans in Raptors Nation believe this slightly revamped squad can come together and deliver a better record or postseason run, the reality is that many mainstream pundits and analysts aren\u2019t giving the 2025-26 Raptors much praise. If they\u2019re getting any coverage at all, it\u2019s mainly because people are confused about the severity of their contracts<\/a> and largely clunky or unproven talent mix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It really sucks when you’re so passionate about a team and want them to establish a stronger, more recognizable identity for the mainstream American audience. But that\u2019s just how it goes when you’re a team based elsewhere. Raptors Nation is strong and reaches far beyond just Toronto \u2014 if not across all of Canada. <\/p>\n

Still, the NBA always prioritizes teams they believe can draw the most attention and viewership. Unfortunately, this year is another reminder that the league doesn\u2019t have a lot of faith in the Raptors proving them wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the recent release of the 2025-26 NBA regular season schedule, Raptors fans were likely focused on what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-72938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}