The Toronto Raptors unveiled a new primary logo somewhat unofficially on Friday that will be used for the 2015-16 season and beyond. The team briefly posted a picture to their Facebook account showing the new logo earlier on Friday before taking it down a short time later.
The Facebook post coincided with a new Raptors promotional TV spot that was uploaded on Friday by the team to their official YouTube account as well. The logo can be seen briefly in the video.
“Last year during the playoffs, ‘We The North’ became a rallying cry for this team, and all of our fans,” Raptors GM Masai Ujiri said Friday in a statement. “Our new logo represents that attitude and will be an important part of our identity starting next season.”
The Raptors organization has gone through a series of logos and jersey designs since their inception into the league in 1995, with red and purple usually serving as the main colors. This new logo is the first time that the team’s primary logo will not include a red dinosaur dribbling a basketball.
The team currently wears white jerseys with red trim when playing at home, red jerseys with black trim when on the road, and black jerseys with red trim when they wear alternates. The Raptors are celebrating their 20th season this by wearing throwback purple dinosaur jerseys.
The Raptors also released their new logo, which was designed by creative services agency Sid Lee, in an alternate color scheme: the black-and-gold look associated with Toronto rapper Drake’s OVO Sound record label.
The team’s rebranding was hinted at in 2013 when the platinum-selling rapper signed on as a “global ambassador” with the organization to help with tasks like the proposed rebranding and the preparation for the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend, which Toronto will host. The Raptors have also hosted multiple “Drake Nights” during home games over the last two years. The rapper was fined by the NBA over the summer for a tampering violation after comments he made at a Toronto concert that was attended by Thunder forward and reigning MVP Kevin Durant.
Enthusiasm has picked up for the Raptors recently as the team has become more competitive. Toronto finished 48-34 last season and made their first trip to the playoffs since 2007-2008 season, when current Heat player Chris Bosh was still with the team. The Raptors lost to the Brooklyn Nets 4-3 in a close-fought seven game series.
Toronto will enter the weekend with an Eastern Conference leading 21-6 record after defeating the Detroit Pistons 110-100 on the road Friday. Their current mark is the franchise’s best start since they began NBA play as an expansion team during the 1995-96 season.
Perhaps the best part of this news means that the Raptors will finally be ridding themselves of that awful purple we’ve had to endure for 20 years, which was already outdated by the time they began utilizing it in the mid-90’s. The purple-dominated team colors resembled the look of a full windsuit somebody taking a jog in the hills of Hollywood would wear in 1985.
One thing the Raptors should probably consider bringing back in some capacity is their old alternate logo from 1995-98.
That is one cute and angry Raptor.
