The budding partnership between the Toronto Raptors and the Buffalo Bills continues. During the course of the 2025 season, the Raptors expressed their support for the Bills on social media. Now, both teams are taking the next step, as Toronto hosted Bills night this Tuesday.
The architects behind this collaboration are two former Raptors players: Hall of Famer Vince Carter and his cousin Tracy McGrady. During the event, Carter and McGrady talked about the rationale behind this collaboration.
“Why not bring two sports together to support each other instead of being against each other?”, they said, per Josh Lewenberg.
Carter notes that the Bills and Raptors' fanbases are very similar in their passion for supporting their home teams. Both Toronto and Buffalo's fanbases are some of the most passionate fanbases, even earning their own nicknames (Jurassic Park for Toronto, Bills Mafia for Buffalo).
“Seeing what Jurassic Park looks like, particularly when they’re on the road during the playoffs and those things. Seeing what Bills Mafia, if you’ve never had that opportunity, I recommend it, if you’re not a part of it, just to watch it. It’s just something special and (we want) both sides to kind of collab and do it together.”
How are Carter and McGrady tied to the Bills? In 2024, the two Raptors alumni, along with Toronto FC forward Joey Altidore, were part of a private equity group that bought a minority stake of the team. Both Carter and McGrady are part-owners of the Bills now, spurring this collaboration.
The ties between Toronto and the Bills go further back. From 2008 until 2013, the Bills played home games in Toronto as part of a series. Talks about the Bills playing home games in Toronto have started to reemerge following the partnership between the Bills and the Raptors' MLSE, but Buffalo's focus is on opening their new stadium first.
The Raptors lost 111-95 to the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points, while Immanuel Quickley had a double-double of 13 points and 12 assists against his former team.
