The demand for Raptors merchandise is out of this world

TORONTO — Over the past two months, the city of Toronto has slowly transformed into a basketball town.

Everyone in the city started paying attention to the team, packing bars and outdoor viewing parties to watch all the playoff games. The Raptors became the No. 1 sports story in Toronto and all across Canada. With the increased visibility and popularity, another thing started happening: everyone started to wear Raptors merchandise.

Katrina Mijares works in an office in Maple Leaf Square by Scotiabank Arena and in the same building as SportChek, where lineups have formed throughout the playoffs and especially during the NBA Finals. Mijares has followed the Raptors since 2000. On the morning after the Raptors eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference final, Mijares felt compelled to pick up some NBA Finals-related merch.

“I figured I would have the upper hand because I work in the building,” Mijares said. “But I was terribly wrong.”

On her way to SportChek in the morning, a line had already formed outside before the store was opened. When Mijares returned at lunchtime, there was only a hoodie and a hat left. Over time, as she returned to the store, Mijares started taking photos of the merchandise and asking family and friends for their sizes.

“I was so eager to outfit my loved ones in NBA Finals merch because it felt historically significant,” Mijares said. “It was the first time we made it and there can only be one first time.”

Christopherr Mendoza has been a Raptors fan since their inaugural season. When his cousin flew in from Saskatoon for the first two games of the NBA Finals, the plan was to secure tickets to watch Game 1 at Scotiabank Arena. But the resell prices were in the thousands, and the two decided instead to reallocate their funds towards buying merchandise. Except, it was nowhere to be found.

“We spent almost an entire day driving from shop to shop and literally could not find any Raptors merch to buy,” Mendoza said.

They eventually gave up and ordered merchandise online. Mendoza is still waiting for three tees to arrive in the mail.

The merchandise craze has also placed a stress not just on the consumers, but retailers as well. Nathan Clark is the owner of Courtside Sneakers, a sneaker boutique in Atlantic Canada specializing in basketball and retro footwear.

“The demand has been out of this world,” Clark said. “Once they advanced to the Finals I felt like everyone was looking for merch. We don’t typically stock or sell much apparel but I was placing massive orders and selling through before products were even shipped to us.”

This has been true across all retailers. The NBA announced last week Toronto’s first championship has led to record-breaking merchandise sales numbers for NBA Store’s online shop. As of last Friday, combined sales from both the U.S. and Canadian websites had eclipsed the previous record from 2016 by more than 80 percent and was up 100 percent year-over-year.

For fans who don’t want to line up for official merchandise, there is an alternative option: making your own merch. On a recent trip to a t-shirt printing shop in downtown Toronto last week, on the computer screen at the register was the famous photo Fred VanVleet posted after losing a tooth during the NBA Finals. On the other counter there was a stack of what I estimated to be about 50 customized Raptors t-shirts that had just been printed (Of course, I was also there for a custom Raptors hoodie).

Stefanie Jesney has followed the Raptors since moving to Toronto five years ago, and has also been to the custom print shop a few times in the last several weeks, printing out a Kyle Lowry and VanVleet t-shirt.

“Official merchandise can be so expensive and it’s not unique,” Jesney said. “I’ve loved the interactions I’ve had with other fans on the street and in bars when I wear my custom tees. It feels like an inside joke with strangers.”

Whether it is official or custom merch, Raptors fans are running into another problem: in their excitement to snap up all NBA Finals merch, they perhaps didn’t consider the fact that if the Raptors won a championship, there would be another round of merchandise to pick up, which is exactly what is happening now. Majires was back at the store the morning after the NBA Finals ended.

“I probably would have limited myself to just one championship t-shirt,” Majires said. “But I did not expect our championship merch to go so [expletive] hard.” Majires waited 15 minutes to get into SportChek and ended up buying seven t-shirts to give to family and friends, and has plans to come back to the store every day to see what will be restocking.

The most underrated part of this Raptors merchandise craze is that this is truly the first time in the franchise’s history where there is a sense of pride attached to representing this team, especially at this time of year, usually reserved for playoff disappointments and embarrassing sweeps to better teams.

Faizal Khamisa is an on-air personality for Sportsnet, and has been a Toronto sports fan for 30 years. When we spoke, he was wearing a Kawhi Leonard hoodie, New Balance pants and the special edition OVO Jordan 4s which were released during the Finals.

“Purchasing everything possible is this validation that this one thing actually happened,” Khamisa said. “I’m going to remember it in every way. I want to go through every t-shirt pile in my condo and have something there so I can remember that and say yeah, I was alive when this championship happened. It’s a special moment for this city and for this team, and you feel a part of it by having some parts of it. The difference is, with me, I don’t need some parts of it, I need all parts of it.”

The spending might not end even after the championship has been clinched. New Balance has run a very successful marketing campaign during these playoffs for Leonard, with the release of t-shirts with catch phrases like Fun Guy and Board Man Gets Paid selling out in stores and online within minutes. If Leonard does decide to re-sign with the Raptors, there will surely be another surge in demand for New Balance merchandise especially in Toronto (for the record: if he did stay, and New Balance released a He Stay t-shirt, it would shatter all t-shirt selling records).

Finding a cut-off point is difficult for most people in Toronto right now.

“I guess when mortgage payments start getting sacrificed, that would be the cut-off point,” Khamisa said. “But we’re not there yet.”

Khamisa and the rest of the city has plans to continue spending out of pure joy and the understanding that this is truly a one of a kind moment for the franchise and the city.

“I’m deliberating if I need a replica Larry O’Brien trophy,” Khamisa said. “The answer is going to be yes. And as soon as the jerseys with the gold patch comes out, come on. I don’t even care if Eric Moreland isn’t on the team next season. I’m going to need a No. 15 jersey.”

More Raptors coverage from Yahoo Sports