Mark Gross, senior vice-president, production, at ESPN, said he was unaware of an inferiority complex some Raptors fans have developed over the years, having heard former players complain about everything from the metric system to the food and “how much curling is on TV in Canada.”



For a long time, the team, and the city, seemed to struggle with its brand in the United States.



“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gross said during an interview Thursday. “Hopefully, we can rectify that next Wednesday — and moving forward, by the way. This isn’t just a one-day thing and then we’re going to forget about our friends in Canada. We’re not going to do that, at all.”



The U.S. sports broadcasting giant will harness the full power of its empire to spotlight the Raptors on Wednesday, featuring the Canadian franchise in its so-called “All-Access” initiative. The team will be on the radio, on...