Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday his third “First Five” recipient, Bristol sports entertainment giant ESPN, which will get $25 million in economic incentives to build a new 193,000-square foot digital center and add at least 200 jobs over the next two years.
The incentives will include a 10-year, $17.5 million loan from the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) for the construction of the digital center and the creation of at least 200 jobs.
ESPN has already broken ground on the new facility, which will be the 19th and largest building on its Bristol campus.
The state will also give ESPN up to $1.2 million to fund a job training grant program and up to $6 million in sales use tax exemptions on capital equipment and construction materials.
In March, ESPN announced that it would grow to 4,100 jobs in Connecticut by the end of 2011. The company currently employs 3,800 full-time employees in the state.
“ESPN is an iconic Connecticut company, one that began with a handful of employees and has now grown into one of the giants in media and a worldwide leader in sports reporting and programming, employing thousands,” Malloy said. “With this investment in ESPN, Connecticut’s reputation as a leading state in which to do media business is further strengthened.”
ESPN said the new building will greatly increase the company’s production capacity and flexibility for new digital media formats and emerging technology.
It will house four studios, six production control rooms, 26 edit rooms and more on four levels, dedicated to a variety of U.S. and international studio programming.
Digital Center 2 will also be the new home of ESPN’s flagship program, SportsCenter.
So far, two Connecticut companies have already taken advantage of the program. South Windsor-based TicketNetwork, which is an online ticket exchange site, recently got $8 million in incentives from the state to add 200 jobs in the next two years.
And health insurer Cigna Corp. has promised to move its headquarters to Bloomfield and add 200 jobs in Connecticut in the next two years, in exchange for $50 million in economic assistance from the state.
