The NBC Sports Group is halfway through its move to Stamford, Conn., with 250 employees already working out of the company’s new headquarters and four shows already being produced from there.
The remaining 250 or so NBC Sports Group employees will be in place by July 1, completing a move that will make the Nutmeg State home to two of the country’s biggest sports media companies, ESPN and NBC.
NBC Sports Group’s digital, creative and operations departments are working out of the facility’s 220,000-square-foot sports production building. The building eventually will house a newsroom, six studios and control rooms, and more than 50 edit rooms. NBC programming, including “NHL Live” and coverage from its Formula One races, has been produced in Stamford since early December.
Some shows, like “Football Night in America” and “The Crossover,” will continue to originate from studios in NBC’s 30 Rock building in Manhattan.
David Mazza, senior vice president and chief technical officer for NBC Sports Group, is overseeing the project. A veteran of 12 Olympic Games, Mazza is responsible for building NBC’s operations at the International Broadcast Center every two years. This project reminds Mazza of building the IBC, even if it is four to five times bigger.
By the end of this month, an additional 25 to 50 executives from the digital and creative departments plan to relocate to the Stamford offices. The rest of the NBC Sports Group — including public relations, human resources, programming, finance and legal — will move in June.
Ad sales will remain in Manhattan, and senior executives will keep offices in both locations.
The 100,000-square-foot administration building still is being renovated but should be ready by June.
NBC is making the move to take advantage of tax breaks that Connecticut offers to the TV and film industry. It also will save money by moving out of high-rent offices in Manhattan and downtown Philadelphia.
The move consolidates four offices. In addition to Manhattan and Philadelphia, NBC Sports Group operated two offices in Stamford, where NBC Sports Network had a studio and NBC Sports Group’s digital and Olympics Web team had an office. Golf Channel will remain in Florida.
