Comcast Sports Group Employees' Deadline to Keep Jobs is Oct. 1

Comcast Sports Group employees in Philadelphia have until October 1 to decide if they will be moving to Stamford, Connecticut with the company or finding jobs elsewhere.

However, Tim Fitzpatrick of NBC Sports said this is not a new development and employees have known for "months and months" of the Oct. 1 deadline, and therefore should not come as a surprise to employees.

"This process has been unfolding for months. If a letter has gone out, that's the latest part of the process," said Fitzpatrick. "It's inaccurate (to say) employees have been given four days to decide."

However, a source employed at Comcast SportsNet informed Patch that employees were handed letters Friday stating each has only four days to decide to move to new corporate headquarters in Stamford, CT.

The letters asked employees to check a box with their final decision — move or not.

"We have been communicating with affected employees continually throughout this process, beginning when it was first announced last year," Fitzpatrick told Patch.

Patch is attempting to obtain a copy of this letter.

the move is part of an internal, regional reorganization at the company, and does not affect the CSN Philly sports broadcast teams that produce such entertainment as Daily News Live, SportsNite, and related programs.

NBC Sports released the following statement Friday afternoon:

As announced a year ago, next spring the NBC Sports Regional Networks office in Philadelphia is relocating to a new state-of-the-art facility in Stamford, CT as part of the integration of NBC Sports offices.  Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is not affected.  The company has been communicating with employees continually throughout this ongoing process.  After making an initial declaration this past summer about whether they intend to move, employees are being asked to formally confirm their intentions on Monday.  Every employee is being offered a comparable position in Stamford.  Employees that relocate are being offered relocation benefits and assistance and employees that do not relocate are being offered severance and other benefits.  

Comcast Sports Group was folded into NBC Sports following Comcast acquiring a stake in NBC Universal.

Those who wish to move will have a job and those who do not can apply for other jobs within the company.

Comcast Sports Group offices are set to be closed in Philadelphia in Spring 2013. 

News of Comcast Sports Group's move to Connecticut has been in the media since Fall 2011.

Sports Business Daily reported that NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus and group president Jon Litner — who oversees Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks — announced in 2011 that more than 300 NBC Sports employees will move to Stamford, Conn.

NBC Sports, Versus and Comcast SportsNet operate out of offices in Manhattan, Connecticut and Philadelphia.

The move, according to the article, puts all of NBC Sports under one roof.

The reason for the move, according to Sports Business Daily, is tax breaks in Connecticut that are offered to the TV and film industry, as well as cheaper rent for its employees.

Connecticut is also the home of sports broadcasting competitor ESPN.

According to an October 2011 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Comcast, after acquiring a controlling interest in NBC Universal, transferred ownership of Versus and SportsNet to NBC Sports, which, in turn, folded those businesses into its operations.