Bill Rasmussen, the co-founder of ESPN, died Tuesday at his home in Florida from complications related to Parkinson's disease. He was 93.
Rasmussen announced in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 2014. ESPN historian Mike Soltys confirmed his death to ABC News.
“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, along with his son Scott, developed the concept for a network dedicated to broadcasting sports continuously. Their ambition was to change how Americans consumed sports television.
Initially, Rasmussen’s vision was a cable channel focused solely on Connecticut sports. After facing skepticism from local cable operators, an alternative suggestion was made to purchase satellite time, enabling a national reach.
ESPN officially launched on September 7, 1979. The inaugural broadcast featured George Grande introducing the first "SportsCenter" program, followed by the network's first live event: a slow-pitch softball game between the Kentucky Bourbons and the Milwaukee Schlitz.
"In those days, we didn’t know if we’d last four weeks, four years, let alone 40-some, but we knew it was special,” said Grande, one of the network's original anchors. “Bottom line was Bill Rasmussen was the true pervader of the original American dream, and he gave us all something very special that we still have today.”
The Rasmussens secured financial backing from Getty Oil and a broadcast rights agreement with the NCAA. Construction on the ESPN studio in Bristol, Connecticut, was still underway when the network began broadcasting.
Getty Oil's investment and the NCAA deal were finalized on the same day. Rasmussen often cited challenges as motivation, stating, “When someone tells you you can’t do something, you want to prove them wrong. Many, many people told us there wasn’t enough sports to do a 24-hour channel. I didn’t argue with anybody. I just thought they were wrong and I was right.”
Despite the network's early success, Rasmussen and his son were compelled to leave ESPN in 1980, just a year after its launch, by Getty Oil, which held a majority stake. Texaco, which later acquired Getty, sold its interest in ESPN to ABC in 1984.
Rasmussen and ESPN remained estranged for nearly two decades. In 1999, company executives extended an invitation to him for the network's 20th-anniversary celebration, marking a reconciliation. Since then, he has been recognized for his pioneering vision.
In 2019, he toured the country, participating in speeches and events for ESPN's 40th anniversary. Veteran anchor Chris Berman, who joined ESPN shortly after its inception, called Rasmussen “our George Washington and a good friend.”
Rasmussen was born in Chicago and held degrees from DePauw University and Rutgers University. He served in the Air Force and worked in advertising, radio, and television broadcasting before joining the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers as public relations director in 1974.
After the Whalers' front office was dismissed in 1978, Rasmussen and his son initiated their plan for a sports television network, reportedly using a $9,000 credit card advance to begin.
"There was a whole lot of chutzpah and a whole lot of vision, and they’re maxed out on their credit cards. It’s the American dream,” said Bob Ley, another original anchor for the network.
Rasmussen was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, and is survived by two sons, a daughter, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.