Hartford Business Journal

6 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 3 Former ESPN personality Dan Patrick carves independent path in competitive sports media landscape Anchor to Entrepreneur DAN >> BY STAN SIMPSON e business attire is decidedly relaxed when Dan Patrick makes the 12-minute drive to his Milford production studio, known as "e Man Cave." He's there by 7:15 a.m. to prep for his 9 a.m.-to-noon radio and tele- vision show. No more tailored suits, like the ones he rocked at ESPN for 18 years when he was one of the network's signature personalities in the 1990s to 2007. Today's wardrobe is a blue NBA New Orleans Pelicans hoodie and pat- terned shorts. e relaxed wear matches a persona that is congenial, cu- rious, sarcastic and witty. He is the CEO of Dan Patrick Productions Inc. and host of the "Dan Patrick Show," a nationally syndicated program that covers sports, enter- tainment and pop culture. e show is available on TV, radio and in podcast format via platforms like iHeartMedia, Fox Sports Radio, Sirius XM and NBC streaming net- work Peacock. Patrick's celebrity in the sports media world attracts an eclectic array of guests. Sports broadcaster Al Michaels, former professional athletes Charles Barkley, Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders and entertainers such as Darius Rucker, Bryan Cranston, Adam Sandler, Sally Field, Will Ferrell and Melissa Etheridge have all made appearances. Topics can range from the Major League Baseball playoffs and NFL regular season, to a new book or movie. e show is live and unscripted. So, it can veer off, such as the time Patrick mentioned a former colleague's infatuation with the dating-app Tinder, which the colleague believed was "one of the greatest inventions of all time." All this happens from the Milford studio on Naugatuck Avenue, where Patrick moved his show in 2019. He turned the former United Rentals warehouse into a sports-memorabilia shrine and production Dan Patrick in his memorabilia-filled studio — known as the "Man Cave" — in Milford. PHOTOS | GREG BORDONARO

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