Sports Broadcasting Legend, ESPN Pioneer Passes Away At 93

Bill Rasmussen, the risk-taking visionary who turned a long-shot idea into sports powerhouse ESPN, died Tuesday at his Florida home. He was 93.

The ESPN co-founder died from the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

Rasmussen helped launch the world’s first 24-hour television network in 1979, forever changing how fans consumed sports.

The idea was a moonshot in the late 1970s, when few believed viewers would tune in to sports around the clock.

Rasmussen had just been fired as communications director of the New England Whalers when he decided to bet on the concept. He maxed out his credit card and used a $9,000 advance to secure valuable space on a communications satellite.

Working with his son Scott, now a conservative pollster, Rasmussen initially envisioned a network focused on Connecticut sports. The two soon set their sights on something far bigger: a national cable channel broadcasting sports 24 hours a day.

Rasmussen pitched major sports leagues, cable operators and potential investors as he fought to turn the dream into reality.

The gamble paid off.

The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network launched Sept. 7, 1979. Bill and Scott Rasmussen co-founded ESPN, with Bill becoming the fledgling network’s first president and CEO.

“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. “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 — key aspects of our company culture that still carry on to this day.”

Rasmussen left ESPN after only a few years, but the foundation he built helped fuel the network’s growth for decades.

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An early meeting with the NFL failed to produce an immediate deal, though it opened a relationship that would eventually bring “Monday Night Football” to ESPN.

“Bill was our George Washington and a good friend,” said veteran anchor Chris Berman, who joined ESPN three weeks after the original network launch in 1979. “He was such a grateful person and every sports fan can be grateful for Bill. He wasn’t a glass half-full guy; his glass was always overflowing with optimism. He greeted everyone with a smile and we can all smile knowing Bill’s legacy.”

After leaving ESPN, Rasmussen contributed to several other media ventures and recounted the network’s unlikely origin during public speaking appearances.

He also wrote “Sports Junkies Rejoice: The Birth of ESPN,” a book about his experience building the cable sports pioneer.

Rasmussen later urged young entrepreneurs to chase ambitious ideas, even without knowing every step ahead.

“I believe the harder you work, the luckier you are,” Rasmussen told Forbes in a 2012 interview. “That’s been my mantra forever. Growing up at the end of the Depression and going into World War II, it was instilled in us that we would be positive and do things. I’ve been touring college campuses over the past three years, speaking to student groups, and I encourage budding entrepreneurs to pursue their ideas, even if they don’t understand all the logistics.”

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