Raptors President Opens Up About His Relationship With Team Ownership

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri says he has a great relationship with Edward Rogers and MLSE ownership

Sep 30, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and Team President Masai Ujiri addresses the media at Scotiabank Area. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

It's business as usual for the Toronto Raptors.

That's the message President Masai Ujiri is sending as this season nears under new ownership for the first time in Ujiri's tenure in Toronto. For decades the Raptors have been owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment split between Rogers Communication, Bell Communication, and Larry Tanenbaum, but all that is changing as Rogers takes over the controlling stake in the entity and ownership of the Raptors.

The relationship between Ujiri and Rogers chairman Edward Rogers has been the focus of much discussion over the past few years. As the Toronto Star reported, Rogers was reluctant to re-sign Ujiri during contract discussions in 2021 before pushback from Tanenbaum and Bell ultimately kept Ujiri with the organization. According to Ujiri, whatever tensions there were at the time were simply due to tough negotiations between the two sides.

"People talk about negotiating and when we negotiated my contract, yeah, those periods are tough," Ujiri said during Monday's Raptors Media Day. "I want to set that clear that he has never treated me any different. From when that went on, we moved on. Everybody moves on. You have tough negotiations with everything we do. That's the nature of my job."

Ujiri described his relationship with Rogers as "great" and said it's been that way for the past decade.

As for the future, Tanenbaum will continue to be involved in MLSE, albeit in a less powerful role over the next few years. Eventually, he's expected to sell his remaining stake in the organization by 2026, per Sportsnet. Ujiri's contract is believed to be expiring that season too, Sportsnet reported.

It's unclear exactly what the future holds for Ujiri and this Raptors front office. They've been the most successful group in franchise history, but the past few years have seen Toronto take a step back and the future for the Raptors remains somewhat murky.

"I just want to set that clear, I was straight with everybody. I'm going to be judged on basketball, not any relationship with anybody or how anything is perceived to be," Ujiri said.

If that's the case, Ujiri has a couple more seasons under contract to prove this organization is on the right path. He had tough negotiations the last time his contract was renewed despite being just a few years removed from a championship. This time around, things may be different.