ESPN Co-Founder Bill Rasmussen Dies at 93 After Launching 24-Hour Sports TV

3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 18

Bill Rasmussen died Tuesday at his Florida home at 93 from the effects of Parkinson’s disease, ESPN historian Mike Soltys said.
Rasmussen co-founded ESPN in 1979 with his son Scott after losing a World Hockey Association PR job, turning a Connecticut-only cable idea into the first national 24-hour sports network.
Getty Oil and an NCAA rights deal helped get ESPN on air on Sept. 7, 1979, though Rasmussen and his son were forced out in 1980 after Getty took an 85% stake.
1999 marked the end of a long estrangement with ESPN, which later embraced Rasmussen as its founder; he toured for the network’s 40th anniversary in 2019 and entered the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.