Everything Raptors 905's

[Just Is]

After a quick Google flurry these are the average home attendance figures.

2013-14 Blue Jays 29,237
2014-15 TFC 23,835 (season in progress)
2014-15 Leafs 19,063
2014-15 Rock 9,985
2014 Argos 17,790
2014-15 Marlies 5,347

Population of Toronto (GTA) is now over 6 million.
http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto...t-four-million

Thanks for the numbers. That actually takes away a lot of my concern about a potential fan base (leaving the only concern being boarder crossing for the players as well as how it relates to their pay).

So it's possible given that the Marlies possess roughly 28% of the audience of the Leafs, if the ratio holds the same for The Raptors (given the growing popularity in Toronto and the cheaper pricing) that would give a potential average audience of around 5540 (even 25% of that could be considered successful) (Average attendance for the Raptors in 2015 was 19,751).

[Mess]

As far as D League attendance figures I can't find any official figures except in a release from May 2013 stating:

The NBA D-League reached the one million total attendance plateau (regular season and postseason) for a fourth straight year (1,123,124), up three percent over the previous season.

You could calculate the average per game if you estimate which games they actually include in that total.

I did find a blog post from 1 year ago stating the average attendance was 2,725 with a high of 5,737 for the Texas Legends and a low of 389 for the LA D-Fenders. There's no references to their sources though.

[ceez]

Practice facility/D league team makes too much sense. My guess is Mississauga or Brampton. Somewhere close for the players.

[Primer]

So everyone's just ignoring the tweet saying the team will be located in the US? It's not the first time I've heard that, it's been brought up in previous articles about the dleague. For business, tax, visa reasons, it's very difficult to have a dleague team in Canada. The teams don't make enough, and the players don't get paid enough. Rochester and Buffalo are the most likely locations.

[psrs1]

So everyone's just ignoring the tweet saying the team will be located in the US? It's not the first time I've heard that, it's been brought up in previous articles about the dleague. For business, tax, visa reasons, it's very difficult to have a dleague team in Canada. The teams don't make enough, and the players don't get paid enough. Rochester and Buffalo are the most likely locations.

Plus issues with border crossings. Don't forget many of these guys have some minor legal issues that could end up in denial of entry or difficulties satisfy entry requirements. Most NBA players have travelled to Canada most D leaguers I suspect have not.

[Mess]

So everyone's just ignoring the tweet saying the team will be located in the US? It's not the first time I've heard that, it's been brought up in previous articles about the dleague. For business, tax, visa reasons, it's very difficult to have a dleague team in Canada. The teams don't make enough, and the players don't get paid enough. Rochester and Buffalo are the most likely locations.

Where is this tweet?

[Bonus Jonas]

It's because Lewenberg tweeted it would be in Toronto, and will be up and running this season

[Primer]

Where is this tweet?

Here you go, it's from a guy who covers the DLeague.

For business purposes and to keep league costs down, Toronto's D-League franchise will operate stateside, not in Canada.

— Sea Dubs Central (@SeaDubsCentral) April 28, 2015

Also found this interesting.

The NBA has discussed extending the draft to 4 rounds in the future to accommodate the D-League. Last 2 rounds would be affiliate players.

— Sea Dubs Central (@SeaDubsCentral) April 30, 2015

[Just Is]

Here you go, it's from a guy who covers the DLeague.

For business purposes and to keep league costs down, Toronto's D-League franchise will operate stateside, not in Canada.

— Sea Dubs Central (@SeaDubsCentral) April 28, 2015

Also found this interesting.

The NBA has discussed extending the draft to 4 rounds in the future to accommodate the D-League. Last 2 rounds would be affiliate players.

— Sea Dubs Central (@SeaDubsCentral) April 30, 2015

I've actually really wanted that last thing (with the expansion of the draft) for a while but it would only work if each team had their own D League affiliate and they upped the pay for the players. It would go further in establishing the D League in the same way that the NHL and MLB use their development leagues.

[Mess]

Oh ok. Never saw it. I was just going by the words that came right from Tim Lieweke's mouth.

Though I guess if a liberal interpretation of term "area" is the worst thing Tim will have done so far, I won't hold it against him.

[Primer]

Oh ok. Never saw it. I was just going by the words that came right from Tim Lieweke's mouth.

Though I guess if a liberal interpretation of term "area" is the worst thing Tim will have done so far, I won't hold it against him.

Yeah, he pulled a politician move by being vague and saying "area". You could argue Buffalo or Rochester are Toronto "area". Then some people ran with it as GTA, which never seemed to be the actual case.

[OldSkoolCool]

2 more rounds would be brilliant.

Wonder if they would allow drafting HS players with those 2 rounds and putting them in the DL...an option available right now

[Primer]

2 more rounds would be brilliant.

Wonder if they would allow drafting HS players with those 2 rounds and putting them in the DL...an option available right now

Zero chance of that. The NBA and NCAA jointly agreed on those age rules. They really don't like the few guys going over to play in Europe or China.

[mcHAPPY]

I posted that tweet in another thread.

It is what many, myself included, said about the possibility of DLeague team in canada.

But then, as others pointed out, AHL and other minor leagues have mangled to operate in US and Canada.

It will be interesting what happens.

The four rounds idea would be awesome.

If they really want to make a to of it they should look at allowing those drafted players to have a DLeague salary comparable to foreign teams. As an example, didn't deandre Daniels make $150k in Australia? DLeague players are paid around $30k I believe.

[Bonus Jonas]

30K is a low end job... They should at least be paying them 50-60K. That's living comfortably so the player shouldn't have an issue with getting a D-League salary.

4 rounds of drafting would be heavenly.