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Toronto to host 2016 NBA All-Star Game
RYAN WOLSTAT, QMI Agency
Sep 24, 2013
, Last Updated: 3:34 PM ET
TORONTO - The basketball world is coming to Toronto in early 2016.
Multiple sources told QMI Agency on Tuesday that the Raptors are on the verge of landing the 2016 NBA all-star weekend.
An official announcement is expected shortly that will reveal further details of how one of the sport's biggest weekends will tie in to the Toronto Raptors' 20th-anniversary season.
Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO, made it clear upon taking over the company that landing the prestigious event was one of his early goals.
“Clearly the 2016 all-star game is a flag in the sand that we planted with the NBA. It is a must have in my opinion and it will be the centre piece of how we rebrand this,” Leiweke said in May.
Incoming NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in town earlier this month for MLSE Expo, a get-together of MLSE employees, but Leiweke told QMI at the time that Silver wasn’t in town to go over the all-star bid. He will take over for David Stern this February.
MLSE began the bidding process last February and Cleveland was considered the other serious contender for the event, which will be held in New Orleans this season and either Manhattan or Brooklyn in 2015.
NBA all-star weekend includes the main event Sunday, as well as the slam dunk/three point and other contests on Saturday night, celebrity-themed games Friday and the fan-friendly NBA Jam Session that likely would be held at the Convention Centre.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2013/09/24/21147756.html
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=432655
Toronto to host 2016 NBA All-Star Game
RYAN WOLSTAT, QMI Agency
Sep 24, 2013
, Last Updated: 3:34 PM ET
TORONTO - The basketball world is coming to Toronto in early 2016.
Multiple sources told QMI Agency on Tuesday that the Raptors are on the verge of landing the 2016 NBA all-star weekend.
An official announcement is expected shortly that will reveal further details of how one of the sport's biggest weekends will tie in to the Toronto Raptors' 20th-anniversary season.
Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO, made it clear upon taking over the company that landing the prestigious event was one of his early goals.
“Clearly the 2016 all-star game is a flag in the sand that we planted with the NBA. It is a must have in my opinion and it will be the centre piece of how we rebrand this,” Leiweke said in May.
Incoming NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in town earlier this month for MLSE Expo, a get-together of MLSE employees, but Leiweke told QMI at the time that Silver wasn’t in town to go over the all-star bid. He will take over for David Stern this February.
MLSE began the bidding process last February and Cleveland was considered the other serious contender for the event, which will be held in New Orleans this season and either Manhattan or Brooklyn in 2015.
NBA all-star weekend includes the main event Sunday, as well as the slam dunk/three point and other contests on Saturday night, celebrity-themed games Friday and the fan-friendly NBA Jam Session that likely would be held at the Convention Centre.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NBA/Toronto/2013/09/24/21147756.html
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=432655
