Starting up a sports filming company

Is there a way to receive money (i.e. a grant) to startup a company that filmed local sports events? What sort of process would one have to go through to earn enough money to afford a Canon XL-1 or equivalent? Is the Xl-1 the right camera to use for filming fast-paced sports games? Lastly, what camera accessories would be necessary to film sports games well?

im with a sports filming company too but i dont know of any of the loans... the canon XL1-s is one of the best cameras out there. we use it and it gives us great results... , go ask this in the canon xl1 and xl1s user group...

I think the bigger question in setting up a sports filming business is what you will be shooting, who your customers are, how will you sell the tapes, etc.
If you contact the Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov, they can help you with business loans, grants, etc. But they will want to see a business plan and hear how to plan to make a profit at this. They couldn't care less what kind of camera you use.
As for equipment, it depends on what you're shooting and your market. If you're going to shoot Little League baseball and sell tapes of games to parents, then a decent consumer camera like a Sony TRV-38 might do the job. High school football at night requires something with good low-light capabilities. And you might want multiple cameras -- football can easily be shot from the top of the press box like the game film camera was always done. But to do gavel-to-gavel coverage, and make your product look like what people see on TV you need at least three camera positions -- where they go depends on the sport -- and edit them together later. You could shoot single camera and pop in cutaways between plays. But do you follow the runner (in baseball) or the ball to see where it's caught, etc.
I shot sports as a newspaper photographer in high school and college and believe me it's not easy.