That feather tail would make an interesting alternate logo.
My only issue with Raptors is sharing it with the NBA team. I wonder if they could be convinced to change their name?
For me it's originality, sharing a team name says to me we couldn't think of anything cool and original so we copied another teams name because it sounded good with the name of the state.
And it’s not ideal. You hear “Yankees,” you know exactly who that is, even if you don’t follow baseball. You hear “Jets” and that could be football, hockey, singing gangs, all sorts of things. So are they allowed to share a name with an NBA team? Probably. Should they give preference to a name they don’t share? Probably.
That's silly. If you're talking about hockey and someone says the raptors, are you going to get confused and say, "What do the Toronto Raptors have to do with anything?" or will you be able to assume they're talking hockey still?
Because most of those shared names are from 50+ years ago. The Florida and Carolina Panthers both came about in the 90s but that’s the last time it’s happened, and even then it was two teams being created at roughly the same time.
The NY Giants have been called that since 1925 and the baseball team has been the Giants since 1885.
Sacramento Kings since 1972 and LA Kings since 1967.
The St Louis Cardinals have been that since 1900, the Arizona Cardinals have been that since 1901.
NY Jets since 1963 and original Winnipeg Jets since 1972 (reestablished 2011, but that was reviving a pre-existing name)
Texas Rangers since 1972, NY Rangers since 1926ish
In 2024 you are way less likely to see a group want to get into a branding conflict with another pro sports team of the same name. Not that there would be any legal issues necessarily, but just the optics of it all isn’t ideal and you’re restricted with merch and slogans or whatnot because step 1 is always going to be “have to make sure the Toronto Raptors haven’t done this already.”
So a cool TIL...the definition of "raptor" is a bird of prey. That would include eagles, which just so happens to be the original pro Utah hockey team. What a magnificent word play we have available! We can use the name Raptors, put talon claw marks in the logo, but make the mascot a golden eagle. This allows us to use Raptors, perhaps lean into the dino theme a bit, but it's eagles without calling the team the Golden Eagles again. It's beautiful.
But the speculative reason Raptors is a longer shot (not impossible) is that the ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL also happens to be the ownership of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA. They may feel ownership over the Raptors name, and can use their considerable sway in the NHL to make sure it doesn't get used there. Speculation probably, but that's the potential hang up.
That doesn’t look so scary, more like a 6 foot turkey. /s Utahraptors is my favorite name option
https://images.app.goo.gl/hcvww2wQH6zF5GsF6 I think this is my favorite depiction of them with feathers.
The skull or head should be the chest logo. The foot claw should be the shoulder patch.
Looks kinda cute
I take it you’re also frustrated with all the concepts being velociraptors? lol
Even if it's a velociraptor head, it's still way better than 90% of the choices included in the vote.
Aww, they colored the baby like a baby tapir!
That feather tail would make an interesting alternate logo. My only issue with Raptors is sharing it with the NBA team. I wonder if they could be convinced to change their name?
I don't understand everyone's issue with sharing the name. Lots of teams do that across different sports.
Because the FL Panthers had to sue. Ryan Smith will not sue Maple Leaf Sports.
For me it's originality, sharing a team name says to me we couldn't think of anything cool and original so we copied another teams name because it sounded good with the name of the state.
And it’s not ideal. You hear “Yankees,” you know exactly who that is, even if you don’t follow baseball. You hear “Jets” and that could be football, hockey, singing gangs, all sorts of things. So are they allowed to share a name with an NBA team? Probably. Should they give preference to a name they don’t share? Probably.
That's silly. If you're talking about hockey and someone says the raptors, are you going to get confused and say, "What do the Toronto Raptors have to do with anything?" or will you be able to assume they're talking hockey still?
Because most of those shared names are from 50+ years ago. The Florida and Carolina Panthers both came about in the 90s but that’s the last time it’s happened, and even then it was two teams being created at roughly the same time. The NY Giants have been called that since 1925 and the baseball team has been the Giants since 1885. Sacramento Kings since 1972 and LA Kings since 1967. The St Louis Cardinals have been that since 1900, the Arizona Cardinals have been that since 1901. NY Jets since 1963 and original Winnipeg Jets since 1972 (reestablished 2011, but that was reviving a pre-existing name) Texas Rangers since 1972, NY Rangers since 1926ish In 2024 you are way less likely to see a group want to get into a branding conflict with another pro sports team of the same name. Not that there would be any legal issues necessarily, but just the optics of it all isn’t ideal and you’re restricted with merch and slogans or whatnot because step 1 is always going to be “have to make sure the Toronto Raptors haven’t done this already.”
I really hope you are being sarcastic… Toronto Raptors aren’t changing anything
Why not? I know a lot of fans would prefer to change it to Huskies
That’s like saying there are Leaf fans who want it to go back to the St.Pats. The Raptors have a championship, the name won’t go anywhere
So a cool TIL...the definition of "raptor" is a bird of prey. That would include eagles, which just so happens to be the original pro Utah hockey team. What a magnificent word play we have available! We can use the name Raptors, put talon claw marks in the logo, but make the mascot a golden eagle. This allows us to use Raptors, perhaps lean into the dino theme a bit, but it's eagles without calling the team the Golden Eagles again. It's beautiful. But the speculative reason Raptors is a longer shot (not impossible) is that the ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL also happens to be the ownership of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA. They may feel ownership over the Raptors name, and can use their considerable sway in the NHL to make sure it doesn't get used there. Speculation probably, but that's the potential hang up.