Sunday Thought - Should MLSE Press the "Re-start" Button on the Raptors?

Deep thoughts continue this Sunday, as an email from a reader earlier this summer prompts Franchise to ponder the idea of an overhaul of the club's image and brand...

We've said it again and again but we've got the best readers out there. The summer can be a tedious time for basketball but between my mad-cap ideas and our readers insightful commentary, things just keep rolling along.

In particular, we've gotten a few great ideas for posts thanks to emails and even comments and today's "Sunday Thought" is spurred on by the former.

Earlier this summer, we received an email regarding the state of the franchise. Here are the key excerpts:

I figured you were the guys to appeal to for this. I think its time the Raptors died, I'm talking literal extinction and shunning from the collective consciousness here. I think the team, the fans, the city, and the management could benefit from a completely new slate.

Why doesn't the team change its name and look, blow up this roster and take on the role of an exspansion franchise?

We need to let them (management) know we want a "do-over" with this franchise. This "new team" should also be launched in a year we finally get the All Star game so the management can put on tons of parties and woo all the players with what a cool city we have here and finally dispel the myth that living in Toronto is like living in Alaska.

What you say? Toronto Towers, Toronto Ice, Toronto Ravens, anyone?

PS. We all know that stupid dinosaur logo has been lame for years. Even if we moved away and identified our Raptors as birds of prey that would be at least decent.

It's an interesting idea.

I've never been a fan of the "Raptors" piece myself, and I can remember being on PEI when the team name was announced, thinking "oh hope they mean the bird and not the dinosaur."

And considering the near removal of the Jurassic Park-inspired creature as a symbol from the team (really, the mascot is the last big piece of "Dinosaur related branding that's still quite prevalent), and the popularity of the "Huskies" retro look, maybe it's time to make like the Bullets and Sonics?

Of course this is no simple undertaking, but with the Bosh fiasco and potentially a fall-out from that which is felt over the next decade in terms of attracting and retaining players, is now not the time to start thinking about a wholesale face-lift?

This is a topic I'd like to blow out a bit more over the coming weeks, but today I wanted to generate some initial discussion around the idea. Should MLSE look to re-brand this team and attempt to start fresh? Working in branding and marketing in my 9-5 job, I know the challenges associated with such a task, but after seeing the Raptors finish 113th of out 122 professional sports teams this past year in ESPN Mag's annual pro-team "value" rankings, I don't think you can completely discount this idea.

And with the team looking to be firmly in "re-build mode" on the court, why not do the same off?

Is there a dire need to make wholesale changes?

Maybe not...but admittedly that old saying "there's no time like the present" seems quite applicable here.