For two years, 13-year-old Chase Reiser from Winnipeg decided to skip his own birthday party and not accept any presents from his parents, so he could save up to buy two tickets to watch the Los Angeles Lakers’ return to Toronto with his mother.
“To see his level of commitment to getting these tickets has been worth it,” said mom Sandra Reiser. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that he’s going to remember for the rest of his life.”
The last time the Lakers played the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena was in November 2019, and their return Friday night was met with fans flooding the lower-bowl area just to get a glimpse of warm-ups.
That’s despite the Lakers struggling with a 29-40 record and winning just two of their last 10 games. Tickets were selling for a minimum of $300 on Ticketmaster hours before tip-off.
Chase saved up $1,500 and flew 2,226 kilometers for two lower-bowl seats.
“I wanted to watch a basketball game and I’ve loved the Lakers for a while, so I just thought it’d be the best idea to do this. I have a Lakers flag in my room and a bunch of other stuff,” said Chase.
He wasn’t close to alone. Another fan, from China, was in attendance in what seemed like a meeting for Lakers fans in the city of Toronto: gold and purple wherever you looked.
The Lakers brand has been synonymous with winning for a few decades, tied for the most championships (17) in NBA history with the Boston Celtics.
Michael Naraine, an assistant professor of sports management at Brock University, says winning breeds fans. If you can put up a banner, people will come.
“There’s still an allure and mystique to the Lakers even as they’re losing these games right now,” said Naraine. “It’s because they have LeBron James and he’s still the most recognizable player on planet Earth.”
Naraine compares it to the Maple Leafs, who still have fans showing up despite not winning a playoff series since 2004. Fans of the Lakers will still come out to see their elite talent.
“As long as they have a star player like a LeBron — 10 years ago it was Kobe Bryant, before that (Shaquille O’Neal). There’s always high-profile players, and even when there is a lull, it’s not a lull for a long period of time,” said Naraine.
In January, the league announced that James and the Lakers led the NBA in merchandise sales through the first half of the season. Just outside the top 10 in jersey sales was Anthony Davis, who played just 36 games last year and has missed significant time this season with injuries.
“Their brand strength is really tied to their player strength and their history. They are a cultural icon as a team,” said Brian Cooper, chair of the media company MKTG.
This month, HBO Max released the docudrama “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” The series chronicles the 1980 Lakers and the growth of the franchise.
Cooper previously spent time as vice-president of business development and operations with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and remembers what the atmosphere was like when Shaq came to Toronto. People would even come to him asking for favours.
“As soon as the season schedule was announced, people were circling the day like they needed to get into the building,” he said. “If a star was coming out to a game, they’d come out on a night of a Laker game.”
He credits the Lakers with cultivating entertainment as an art form through sports, creating an experience everyone wanted to be there for: “They are in the entertainment capital of the world. Whether it’s featured film, television shows, live performances, it all starts and ends in LA”
Cooper also praised Raptors president Masai Ujiri and the franchise for creating a global brand by bringing in players from around the world.
“If you look at the number of international players that have gone through the Raptors, I would say no one could touch them,” Cooper said. “The people who have those stars in those countries are following them.”
One big thing Cooper says is preventing the Raptors from becoming a brand as global as the Lakers is a lack of national television coverage from networks such as ESPN, primarily because of a lack of US sponsors.
And just like they did with Shaq and Kobe, what’s kept the Lakers brand so successful after all these years is their dedication to chase the biggest stars in the game, says Cooper. Now it’s James, Davis and Russell Westbrook, despite their season not playing out as well as the front office anticipated.
“In basketball, you either love the Lakers or you hate the Lakers. That storyline, kind of crafting them as protagonists or antagonists, helps. It sells tickets, it sells jerseys and it sells the game,” said Naraine.
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