Once again, ESPN underwrites ACC expansion

[CL82]

Except that I'm confident that "not screwing over UConn" wasn't a contingency in that agreement. As long as ESPN meets their end of the deal, which I believe were certain employment marks they are entitled to the tax break. I agree with the sentiment, though.

What we can do is pressure our elected reps to make sure that that they never, NEVER, get another dollar of taxpayer money. Never get a zoning break, etc. ESPN should be the most hated company in Connecticut. They bankrolled CR and never lifted a finger to make sure we had a soft landing. ESPN doesn't instruct and fund the ACC's raids, and we're sitting pretty dominating the BE. If during any of the ACC raids, ESPN says, yeah we'll give you this bump up but one of the teams needs to Connecticut, we'd have a safe home right now. Never forget that.

You know the more I think about this the more I think I may have been too quick to reject the idea.

From my post in another thread:

I think the state would lose if this went to trial. The best case that comes to mind is that ESPN constructively breached their implied duty of fair dealing to the State of Connecticut. Sound like a reach? It is. But here's the thing, ESPN probably doesn't go to trial on it because discovery would be very, very messy.

Exposing how the sausage is made might be the only leverage we have. It is an interesting idea.

 

[upstater]

If during any of the ACC raids, ESPN says, yeah we'll give you this bump up but one of the teams needs to Connecticut, we'd have a safe home right now. Never forget that.

Your last point is excellent. How would BC block UConn if it was explicitly taking money out of the pockets of the other teams? It is very true that ESPN doesn't give a damn about UConn.

 

[CL82]

Tax breaks are renewed. I haven't lived in Conn. in a very long time, but up here in NY, Alcoa's tax break has been renewed for eons. It comes up every 5 years.

Agree. Never again.

 

[CTGoonie]

Forget Jacobs. I think Joe Nocera with the NY Times needs to write something. He was on our side with all the APR stuff and the NCAA took notice of what he wrote.

 

[kbdiggity]

Espn can still get us in the ACC. Right now is the time they can do it.

They really can't. The ACC has 14 full time football members. 15 teams for football is a scheduling nightmare. Unless Notre Dame joins as a full member, the ACC can't add another school.

 

[huskypantz]

They really can't. The ACC has 14 full time football members. 15 teams for football is a scheduling nightmare. Unless Notre Dame joins as a full member, the ACC can't add another school.

no it isn't. 3 5-team pods. play 2 home, 2 away in your pod. play 3 from pod b, 2 from pod c. Flip that next year. 9 conf games. ND games are nonconf.

 

[noeynox]

People talk about BC blocking us because of hurt feelings, but maybe it was espn who's feelings were hurt over the lawsuit. It basically became a nuisance to them on the way to the inevitable, the fortifying of the ACC at the Big east's expense. That the four schools left behind were severely damaged means nothing to them.

 

[upstater]

They really can't. The ACC has 14 full time football members. 15 teams for football is a scheduling nightmare. Unless Notre Dame joins as a full member, the ACC can't add another school.

You're forgetting that the scheduling nightmare is offset by the 5 or 6 ND OOC games.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

You can't just single out ESPN to take back tax breaks. The tax breaks are meant to keep job-producing companies in a state where it's quite expensive to operate a business. You can't write a law that says, "If you create 100 jobs this year, we'll give you a tax break, unless you're ESPN, cause duck you."

I mean, seriously. I love UConn but ESPN employs thousands of people as well and I'm not sure telling them to duck off is a smart decision on behalf of the state.

 

[upstater]

You can't just single out ESPN to take back tax breaks. The tax breaks are meant to keep job-producing companies in a state where it's quite expensive to operate a business. You can't write a law that says, "If you create 100 jobs this year, we'll give you a tax break, unless you're ESPN, cause duck you."

I mean, seriously. I love UConn but ESPN employs thousands of people as well and I'm not sure telling them to duck off is a smart decision on behalf of the state.

Tax breaks are not renewed all the time. Happens a lot.

 

[Dooley]

Right or wrong, I've been boycotting ESPN programming for a little over a year now (except when I'm forced to watch a UCONN game on their channels) and feel great about it. I've taken my boycotting to new levels: I didn't watch any Big East or NCAA Tourney coverage after UCONN was excluded. I realize one crazy dude with a grudge won't help anything, but it makes me feel a bit better when I think about UCONN being shunned from the power conference shuffle.

 

[CL82]

You can't just single out ESPN to take back tax breaks. The tax breaks are meant to keep job-producing companies in a state where it's quite expensive to operate a business. You can't write a law that says, "If you create 100 jobs this year, we'll give you a tax break, unless you're ESPN, cause duck you."

I mean, seriously. I love UConn but ESPN employs thousands of people as well and I'm not sure telling them to duck off is a smart decision on behalf of the state.

A whole lot of what happens in the world happens in the margins.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Tax breaks are not renewed all the time. Happens a lot.

So we should punish other companies just to spite ESPN? Cut off our nose to spite our face?

 

[upstater]

So we should punish other companies just to spite ESPN? Cut off our nose to spite our face?

I have no idea what you mean. Seriously.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I have no idea what you mean. Seriously.

The tax breaks for ESPN are not specific to ESPN, but to any company which generates jobs in the state. So when we give ESPN tax breaks, it's not like, an ESPN-specific tax break, it's a tax break for all companies in the state which produce jobs, part of the First Five Program, along with any other tax breaks they are getting simply for being a large company in-state.

 

[uconnric]

Right or wrong, I've been boycotting ESPN programming for a little over a year now (except when I'm forced to watch a UCONN game on their channels) and feel great about it. I've taken my boycotting to new levels: I didn't watch any Big East or NCAA Tourney coverage after UCONN was excluded. I realize one crazy dude with a grudge won't help anything, but it makes me feel a bit better when I think about UCONN being shunned from the power conference shuffle.

How about all of us boycotting whoever or whatever cable channel takes on the ACC network. I'd have a real hard time thinking that any of my cable fees would be indirectly going to into that. Any cable channel that picks up that network should hear from us, or from our legislators.

 

[upstater]

The tax breaks for ESPN are not specific to ESPN, but to any company which generates jobs in the state. So when we give ESPN tax breaks, it's not like, an ESPN-specific tax break, it's a tax break for all companies in the state which produce jobs, part of the First Five Program, along with any other tax breaks they are getting simply for being a large company in-state.

ESPN's biggest tax breaks were ESPN specific. The $14 million break on the new facility.