Sportsnet tennis debacle reveals the have and have nots in Rogers sports empire
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A Rogers-sponsored athlete at the Rogers Centre for a Rogers-owned pro team to help pump up an event in which Rogers is the presenting sponsor.
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All the more reason, then, for those in the Auger-Aliassime camp and Tennis Canada to be miffed at how the Rogers-owned network broadcasting this week's National Bank Open at York University dropped the ball.
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Sportsnet's decision not to produce its coverage of opening week action of the NBO in both Toronto (men) and Montreal (women) has not sat well with many of the principals involved with Canada's marquee event for the sport.
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Though reluctant to criticize their broadcast partner directly and publicly, behind the scene Tennis Canada and tournament officials are miffed at Sportsnet's cost-cutting moves during the early rounds, opting for the ATP world feed for the first week of play.
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(On Saturday through next weekend's finals, Sportsnet's regular, top-notch tennis crews were back in action in both Montreal and Toronto, as were the network's own producers.)
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Even that development has come with some trimmed corners, however. There will be production crews on site at both venues, as well as those calling the action. Studio coverage will be from Rogers headquarters, however, eliminating the possibility of big-name players dropping by the set for interviews.
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The most egregious shortfall took place on Wednesday, however, when Auger-Aliassime's match, a tense straight-set loss to Hungary's Fabian Marozsan, was not shown at all on Sportsnet. Tennis Canada officials had purposely scheduled the popular Canadian in prime time and on the stadium court to maximize the audience — a win-win exposure wise.
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Where the communication broke down between Sportsnet and ATP's in-house folks remains to be seen.
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'Obviously what happened, we didn't want that to happen,' Hale said, according to the Canadian Press. 'We're going to have those discussions (on Sportsnet producing the full event in future years.) We've already started it. So I think there will be a better solution going forward as we move along.'
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