One-man protests are often the stuff of apocalyptic fanaticism or conspiracy-theory ranting. But that’s not the case with Andrew Ebanks. On Dec. 30, for the second time in as many weeks he’s positioned himself in front of Rogers Communications’ head office in the menacing late-December winds of Bloor Street, with placard in hand, as the lone representative of a collective demand for more Toronto Raptors basketball from his cable provider.
Ebanks is one of the many Raptors fans slated to miss out on 25 televised regular season games simply for being Rogers cable subscribers. The games are scheduled to appear on TSN’s second-tier station, TSN2 as part of the network’s 78-game NBA broadcast season — TSN is the official broadcaster for the Raptors this year — but Rogers has yet to finalize a deal to put the station on Toronto's cable dial, even though the NBA season is already well under way.
While the Raptors are off to a disappointing start, losing seven of their last 10 games, Ebanks is appalled that Toronto basketball is getting such a raw deal. “It’s kind of insulting in a way. Basketball is huge here and it’s growing in popularity despite the fact that the Raptors aren’t doing well,” he says. “Would this happen to the Leafs? I don’t think so.”
The frustration for Ebanks, and anyone else in his position, is that Rogers remains the only major cable provider that doesn’t carry TSN2. The alternate station was launched back in August, as a means for TSN to deal with its scheduling conflicts and as a way to compete against the regional feeds offered by channels like Sportsnet. And the announcement of expanded NBA coverage was a welcome addition to their line-up. TSN2 already has approximately 3.2 million viewers in Canada, but when Rogers is the most popular provider in Toronto (the only real alternative being Bell satellite TV, if you have a line of sight to a transmission tower), it seems that those closest to the Raptors are the once who are missing out.
What’s doubly frustrating is that no one seems to have an answer for why Rogers and TSN haven’t come to an agreement yet. Though the broadcast schedule came out in late October, both the Nov. 17 and Dec. 15 games came and went without so much as a viable excuse, other than Rogers spokesperson Nancy Cottenden explaining that negotiations are ongoing. (We have yet to hear back from Rogers or Raptor’s owners MLSE).
According to Ebanks, “Right now, no one knows.” When we spoke on the phone the night before his second protest, he postulated: “Is it TSN’s fault for maybe too high of a price to get TSN2 on for Rogers? Is it Rogers fault for playing hardball because TSN2 would be another network to go against Rogers Sportsnet? Or MSLE, is it their fault for going into the deal with TSN and not realizing that TSN could just shift these games over to TSN2, or did they know this ahead of time?”
In any case, even though Ebanks was all alone at Rogers head office, he’s confident that at the very least the word is spreading. From the 700 or so FaceBook responders, to the people on the street honking encouragement and chatting him up, and even the Rogers employees who take a moment to read his signs on their way into the office, there are now a few more questions circulating as to why Rogers and TSN can’t get it together and appease the fans of a team they both have a vested interest in (TSN may be the official broadcaster, but Rogers is still one of the Raptors’ sponsors).
Ebanks may be the only Raptors fan willing to take the message to the streets, but he’s an apt symbol for those deprived of their NBA broadcasts: out in the cold.