Fans line up for championship bling

NBA broke its record for online sales by Friday

Thursday’s historic win, which brought the first NBA championship to the Toronto Raptors, has also led to another record: that for merchandise sales at the official NBA store.

The NBA announced that, by Friday afternoon, the combined online sales through NBAStore.com and NBAStore.ca (the American and Canadian sites, respectively) had eclipsed the previous record by 80 per cent. The previous sales record was set in 2016, and Friday’s records were up 100 per cent year-over-year, according to the NBA.

You could see the evidence loud and clear in Toronto, where Raptors fans such as Victor Maua swarmed the shops for championship gear starting in the early morning.

Hunting for authentic memorabilia was the only item on the North York resident’s agenda Friday, as he took transit to be at the Real Sports Apparel, the official team store in the Scotiabank arena’s hallway, as early as possible.

Only one problem for Maua: Hundreds of other fans got there much earlier than he did.

By mid-morning, the line of customers outside the store appeared longer than it had been at any earlier point in the team’s playoff run.

“I couldn’t believe it. Like, were these people here all night or what?” said Maua, after he left the shop, rocking his new 2019 NBA Champions hat with a Raptors logo on it.

Sports stores across the city were facing a surge in demand for Raptors’ authentic gear, as countless fans wanted to own a piece of history before all the merchandise sold out.

Maua, who’s originally from Angola and has been a basketball junkie since childhood, said it was important for him to spend his money on the headgear, because he knows how rare and hard it is to win at the highest level in sports.

“A moment like this may never come again,” he said, pointing to the Raptors’ 25-year-history. “You can’t just let it pass without something special to remember it.”

After lining up for hours to get in the store, Hanna Garcia proudly wore her white NBA Champions shirt and hat, which she said cost about $100. She said she bought six other shirts to give to her family in Vancouver, where she lives.

“My brother in Manila called me right after the game and wants to get a shirt,” she said. “Everyone thinks it’s easy to get in Toronto. It’s crazy.”

Hundreds of other customers also lined up at the store’s second location next to Jurassic Park.