University of Guelph business professor Norm O’Reilly commented in a Globe and Mail article about those who are profiting from the Toronto Raptors playing in the NBA Finals.

O’Reilly said the team’s success is bound to convert many new fans in Canada into long-term followers, which would increase the value of the team.

That value would increase further if the team wins the championship, since championship wins have “this enduring effect,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly is the assistant dean of executive programs in U of G’s Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, and is considered a leading scholar in the business of sport. He studies marketing, sponsorship, sport finance, social marketing and tourism management.