ESPN

At the old Sports Center set

July 30 – We woke to a beautiful day out and it was for the entire day!  We didn’t rush around  but wanted to leave no later than 9:30 for Bristol for our tour at ESPN.  Dan’s friend is a cameraman there and he arranged for us to take a tour.  We were schedule for noon and expected to arrive by 11:40.  It’s about an hour from here so we were gone before 9:30 and were able to make a stop at Whole Foods on the way.

In Mike Golic's chair

We were plenty early, the first to arrive for our group.  You park at the Welcome Center and are shuttled to building 4 on the opposite end of the “campus” where you meet your tour guide.  They are all full time employees with other jobs there but are asked to give the tours.  Our guy has been with ESPN for 20 years and does video editing.  He does 1 tour a week.  They normally do 3 a day and you can only go by knowing someone who works there.  There is lots of security and you have to show photo ID and they have to have your info way in advance.  The tour was supposed to be 30 minutes but he was with us well over an hour.

Bill sitting in for Steven A Smith who was suspended

I’m not even sure where to start.  We pretty much visited everything except the new Sports Center set and the cafeteria.  We started in the “news” room where we learned how the shows are put together and how it’s determined what will be the topics.  They have a large section of staff that do nothing but research.  It’s one of the more difficult departments to get into.  They get tested several times on sports knowledge before getting into an actual interview. 

We moved on to the various sets.  We got to see where Mike and Mike is done and I sat in Mike Golic’s chair.  We visited the old Sports Center set.  That was pretty nice!  We learned which cameras are remote control and which are moved by humans.  Bill sat at the Sports Center desk.  Then we watched a taping that is radio and television both.  It was the Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Rusillo show but Scott was absent and Danny Kanal was taking his place.  Our guide took us to the digital center where games are reviewed and parts selected for use on different shows as audio or digital clips.  These places are huge with rows of computer desks and screens all over the place.  There are no assigned spaces in a lot of the sections as everyone’s hours are continually changing based on what sports are on and what is happening in the sports world.  They just grab a space in these audio or digital rooms and work.  Very few employees have their own desks.  Mostly they are in the research department.  Those who don’t have a desk have lockers for their personal items.

I think this was in NFL Coundown

We kinda have an idea of how it all comes together when it goes on the air.  They have a massive area of satellite dishes, one that can handle 32-34 satellite feeds.  The facility or campus as they call it has been in almost continual construction and expansion for the last 20 years.  It overtook a public road and is basically built around 2 courtyards.  Since completely the new building where Sports Center is broadcast from they are remodeling and enlarging the cafeteria that is open 20 hours a day.  There are 2 campuses in Bristol and between them they employ 4,000 people.  They have a top of the line fitness center as well as childcare for their employees.

 Just like Disney the tour ended in the gift shop.  The prices were not nearly as bad as Disney!  The shuttle is called when you are ready to head back to the car.  It was really a great experience and we certainly enjoyed it.

We had lunch in Bristol just down the road and headed back to Manchester, east of Hartford, to do a bit of shopping before heading home.  We had leftovers which was fine since we will be out of town Thursday and Friday!