Build It and They Will Come (or Stay); Sports Broadcasting Grows in CT

Fiscal incentives offered by the State of Connecticut are propelling the sports broadcasting to a critical mass in Connecticut. led by veteran ESPN in Bristol but increasingly joined by fledgling and long-established companies taking advantage of the tax breaks and taking root across the state.  The Connecticut Post is reporting:

• Back9Network received an aid package that includes a 10-year, $750,000 loan at 1 percent interest, a five-year, $250,000 job-creation loan at 2 percent interest, and a $100,000 matching grant.  Facilities will be built in downtown Hartford.  (It also can take advantage of state laws set up to help bring media and film companies here that include a 30 percent tax credit for expenditures made in Connecticut.)
• ESPN and NBC Sports last year were given deals as part of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's "First Five" program, set up for the first businesses to agree to create 200 jobs over two years or invest $25 million in Connecticut and create 200 jobs over five years.  NBC Sports' package includes tax incentives and a $20 million low-interest loan.
• ESPN, which last year announced plans to build a second digital center in Bristol, received at 10-year, $17.5 million loan, up to $1.2 million in job-training grants, and up to $6 million in tax exemptions on capital equipment and construction materials for that expansion.

The YES Network, the #1 Regional Sports Network in the country, has had production facilities based in Stamford for a decade, and ESPN took root in Bristol in 1979.