ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen dies at 93
Bill Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN who came up with the idea for a 24-hour cable television network devoted entirely to sports, has died from the effects of Parkinson’s disease. He was 93.
“Bill was a remarkable man, a visionary and an innovator who conceived the idea of a network entirely devoted to sports,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement on Tuesday. “Quite simply, none of us would be here today if it wasn’t for Bill’s passion and all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit he put into building ESPN in the late 1970s.”
Rasmussen, a former broadcaster and public relations executive, developed the idea with his son Scott in 1978 while the two were stuck in traffic on Interstate 84 in Connecticut. They had acquired a satellite transponder and were discussing possible programming when Rasmussen suggested a network dedicated to sports.
The idea grew from a plan to air Connecticut sports to a statewide audience into a national cable network. With backing from Getty Oil, a programming deal with the NCAA and an advertising agreement with Anheuser-Busch, ESPN launched in 1.4 million homes on Sept. 7, 1979.
Its first program was “SportsCenter,” hosted by Lee Leonard and George Grande. The show became ESPN’s signature program and helped transform televised sports news.
Rasmussen served as ESPN’s first president and later as chairman before leaving an active role at the company in October 1980. He continued to work as a consultant and entrepreneur in sports media, and wrote books about the creation of ESPN.
Born in Chicago in 1932, Rasmussen served in the U.S. Air Force and began his broadcasting career in Massachusetts before joining the New England Whalers hockey team as communications director.
He publicly disclosed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2019 and became an advocate for Parkinson’s patients. Rasmussen was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, and is survived by three children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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