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With the Toronto Raptors currently riding the wave of the NBA Finals, a recent report published by Josh Rubin of The Star has now pegged the team as the new most valuable sports franchise in the entire nation of Canada.
A lucrative U.S. national TV deal for the NBA combined with five division titles in six seasons has propelled the Raptors past the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blue Jays in franchise value, making the team the most valuable sports franchise in the country, experts say. The Raptors are now worth about $1.8 billion (all figures U.S.), but could sell for well over $2 billion, according to some estimates. The Leafs, meanwhile, have a value pegged at $1.45 billion and the Blue Jays at $1.5 billion.
This does not come as a surprise considering how big the NBA has become not only in Canada, but at the international level as well. However, hockey has long been the more popular sport in the nation, and the fact that the Raptors were able to overtake the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL does make this fact even more impressive.
Then again, as described above, the Raptors have been extremely successful throughout the past few years, which has slowly allowed them to build on the overall value of their franchise. Their recent historic playoffs run is actually just the pinnacle of their years-long journey, and we should expect the team's value to increase even more regardless of the result of the Finals.
