ESPN paid for lights at Michigan Stadium...

[huskymedic]

Nice life...

>>Dave Brandon was credited with helping secure finances to upgrade and improve the athletic facilities at Michigan. He also helped usher in the night-game era for football while Michigan’s athletic director from 2010 to October 2014, a tenure that was marred by public criticism for his business-like approach to running the department. Among the business decisions he made, he revealed this week on Jim Harbaugh’s “Attack Each Day” podcast, was securing permanent lighting for Michigan Stadium.

“I actually got ESPN to pay for it. It didn’t cost us a dime. All we had to do was promise to play a night game once a year,” admitted Brandon. ESPN did pay the cost of installing permanent lighting at the 107, 601-seat Michigan Stadium. Under the Big Ten’s previous TV agreement, league schools agreed to play a maximum of three night home games every two seasons; that has since increased to a maximum of two night home games per season. Details of the deal with ESPN for the lights have never been disclosed. At the time of the lights were installed, university officials cited the project cost as $1.8 million, with “funding provided from athletic department resources.”<<

 

[whaler11]

candidate for uconn?

 

[uchusky32]

Nice life...

>>Dave Brandon was credited with helping secure finances to upgrade and improve the athletic facilities at Michigan. He also helped usher in the night-game era for football while Michigan’s athletic director from 2010 to October 2014, a tenure that was marred by public criticism for his business-like approach to running the department. Among the business decisions he made, he revealed this week on Jim Harbaugh’s “Attack Each Day” podcast, was securing permanent lighting for Michigan Stadium.

“I actually got ESPN to pay for it. It didn’t cost us a dime. All we had to do was promise to play a night game once a year,” admitted Brandon. ESPN did pay the cost of installing permanent lighting at the 107, 601-seat Michigan Stadium. Under the Big Ten’s previous TV agreement, league schools agreed to play a maximum of three night home games every two seasons; that has since increased to a maximum of two night home games per season. Details of the deal with ESPN for the lights have never been disclosed. At the time of the lights were installed, university officials cited the project cost as $1.8 million, with “funding provided from athletic department resources.”<<

Yea, this is a program in need. Must have been close to losing the program. Thanks ESPN.

 

[Dooooooomed]

So happy we've ditched them.

 

[Purple Stein]

Maybe they can do Dillon next?

 

[buddy]

Your CT taxpayers dollars at work!

 

[GridironGR8]

Maybe they can do Dillon next?

Don't count on it for awhile. ESPN has committed funds to new locker rooms at Ohio State and Oklahoma, as well as new apartments and a recreation complex for Alabama FB. P5!

 

[weyuo]

And the rich get richer. |:

 

[Clockshop]

Don't count on it for awhile. ESPN has committed funds to new locker rooms at Ohio State and Oklahoma, as well as new apartments and a recreation complex for Alabama FB. P5!

Source and a link?

 

[GridironGR8]

Source and a link?

I suggest turning on your sarcasm-detection meter.

 

[gtcam]

If they love Michigan so much - move out of Bristol and go to Flint - drink plenty of tap water there

 

[uconnbill]

ESPN still takes tax breaks from Connecticut taxpayers and it still pisses me off

 

[HartfordHank]

ESPN still takes tax breaks from Connecticut taxpayers and it still pisses me off

And how much money is generated in income taxes and property taxes from ESPN? I am guessing far more than the tax breaks were. The tax break had nothing to do with UConn sports.

Would you prefer they move out of Connecticut and take all those tax dollars with them? I am sure Massachusetts would be happy to have them move a few miles north and east.

 

[CL82]

And how much money is generated in income taxes and property taxes from ESPN? I am guessing far more than the tax breaks were. The tax break had nothing to do with UConn sports.

Would you prefer they move out of Connecticut and take all those tax dollars with them? I am sure Massachusetts would be happy to have them move a few miles north and east.

Hank I'm not at all confident that the state did a cost benefit analysis before granting that break. Maybe they did, I have a healthy skepticism though. ESPN's infrastructure investment makes it very, very unlikely that they'd move in the near future. Some tax breaks at location related (like the NYC enterprise zones) some are case by case. The case by case ones often consider the "citizenship" of the candidate. ESPN's evisceration of the Big East cost Connecticut taxpayers 100's of millions of dollars and the price tag goes up every year. It would have cost ESPN nothing to say to ACC we prefer Connecticut. They didn't. That's something that the legislature should keep in mind if they ever come asking for another break.

 

[buddy]

Hank I'm not at all confident that the state did a cost benefit analysis before granting that break. Maybe they did, I have a healthy skepticism though. ESPN's infrastructure investment makes it very, very unlikely that they'd move in the near future. Some tax breaks at location related (like the NYC enterprise zones) some are case by case. The case by case ones often consider the "citizenship" of the candidate. ESPN's evisceration of the Big East cost Connecticut taxpayers 100's of millions of dollars and the price tag goes up every year. It would have cost ESPN nothing to say to ACC we prefer Connecticut. They didn't. That's something that the legislature should keep in mind if they ever come asking for another break.

I wish I could give more likes to this post. You hit the nail on the head.

 

[uconnbill]

And how much money is generated in income taxes and property taxes from ESPN? I am guessing far more than the tax breaks were. The tax break had nothing to do with UConn sports.

Would you prefer they move out of Connecticut and take all those tax dollars with them? I am sure Massachusetts would be happy to have them move a few miles north and east.

They already moved part of their operations to North Carolina and NYC. Again why should the state give them a tax break when they screw the state university as they did? I know you are a BC fan, but even you can see the issue with this, or maybe not and you are just obtuse.