ESPN is ready to open its first studios in New York City. The Worldwide Leader has signed a deal on a lease that will have it moving into the South Street Seaport Pier 17 complex. It’s expected that ESPN will use the studios to house the new Mike Greenberg Show when it launches sometime in the spring of 2018.
According to the New York Post, ESPN will occupy the third floor of the new complex, which will include restaurants, shops, and office space.
ESPN’s studios will bring not just TV, but also radio to the Pier 17 building. While ESPN has mostly broadcast content from its Bristol, CT world headquarters, it also has studios in Los Angeles where SportsNation, NBA Countdown, and late night SportsCenters are produced.
The New York studios are expected to open either in March or April of 2018 and ESPN will be the first tenant to begin operation.
To signify ESPN’s move to New York, the pier was bathed in red light on Monday, which a development official said was in honor of the network’s move to the building. And while shows will be produced from that location, ESPN will not be totally moving away from its Bristol headquarters.
ESPN executive vice president Connor Schell in a statement to the Post said the New York studios will provide the network with a “state of-the-art content factory that will allow us to produced differentiated studio content for both television and digital.”
So ESPN will be heading to New York City and will be housed in 19,000 of the 150,000 square feet of office space that will be available to rent. It will be interesting to see just what other shows will be originating from the New York studios besides the Greenberg morning vehicle.
