James L. Bosworth has resigned as CEO and chairman of the golf-lifestyle media company Back9Network just over a month after the fledgling network inked its first television deal, the company confirmed to The Hartford Business Journal.
The company is expected to officially announce this afternoon that Bosworth, who co-founded Back9Network in 2010 after running his own sports marketing and branding firm in Simsbury, resigned to pursue other career opportunities. No further details were provided as to why Bosworth is leaving the company.
Chief Financial Officer Charles Cox, who joined the company in 2012, will succeed Bosworth as CEO, the company said.
In June, Back9Network announced its first television deal, with DirecTV. Programming will begin in September.
Cox, a former executive at ESPN and media investment banker at former Wachovia Bank now Wells Fargo Bank, led the negotiations with DirectTV, Back9Network said. He has also worked as a sports and entertainment attorney.
Meanwhile, Back9Network has named Chief Operating Officer Reid Gorman its chief administrative officer and executive vice president. President Carlos Silva will assume the television and digital network duties of Gorman’s former position.
Under Bosworth, Back9Nework raised about $30 million in startup funding and nabbed a $5 million incentive package from the state to add jobs and help build out its production studio in Constitution Plaza.
In June, Back9Network said it signed its first TV deal with DirecTV, a multi-year agreement that will allow the company to distribute 1,100 hours of original programming in its first year. The network’s downtown Hartford TV and digital studios will be fully operational in September.
Back9 also faced some controversy, including a lawsuit by a former vice president — Steve Shaw — who accused the company of stiffing him out of $80,000. In the suit, Shaw, who was a consultant for Back9, said he was promised a full-time job with benefits but was laid off instead. Bosworth said the accusation was”baseless.”
Shaw withdrew the suit on May 6, saying the matter had been resolved through discussions between the two sides, according to court records.
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