in all areas. Every item in our bottom line will be influenced " said Richard Peddie, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors and hockey's Toronto Maple Leafs. Forbes magazine, which publishes an annual ranking of pro sports franchises values in North America, estimated the Raptors value at $148 million dollars last November. That figure is projected to increase to as much as $170 million because of Carter's signing and the team's promising future. Even before the presence of a superstar such as Carter, the Raptors have enjoyed consumer success. In only their first month of operation, more than $20 million dollars of Raptors gear was sold and by the end of the season they were seventh in the league in merchandise sales. The purchasing trend has only strengthened over time as fans continue to shell out top bucks at home games. Every conceivable non-seating space in the $265 million dollar Air Canada Centre has been exploited for advertising and entertainment. Raptors tickets currently cost an average of $44.17, about $7 less than the league average of $51.34 but that is steadily changing as the Raptors have announced that ticket prices will increase by an average of 9 percent for the 2001-2002 season. Early projections say that the Raptors could almost double ticket-related revenue to $72 million from $40 million by 2008 with annual 10 per
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