ESPN Founder & Visionary Bill Rasmussen Dead At 93

It started as an idea shared between father and son.

It evolved into a global sports phenomenon.

Bill Rasmussen, who founded ESPN with his son, Scott, in 1979, died at his Florida home at the age of 93 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

He would watch his idea become a defining part of sports history, even though he was forced out before ESPN became a dominant force in the sports landscape.

“ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network forever changed the landscape of sports media, died today at the age of 93,” ESPN said in a statement. “A game-changer for the ages. Thank you for everything, Bill.”

In 1978, newly fired from the New England Whalers (a pro hockey team that folded in 1979), Bill came up with the idea of a regional sports network and spent $9000 of his own money to purchase space on a satellite.

Rasmussen was a sports fan who thought a 24-hour network would provide more comprehensive coverage of games and competitions than what was available back then.

“I thought, why not a channel that’s on all the time?” Rasmussen told Cronkite News. “Sports don’t stop at six o’clock.”

To expand on his vision, he still needed financing, and Getty Oil came through but wanted 85% of the company. Rasmussen agreed, saying that without their money, ESPN would have never happened.

He spent $18,000 to buy the first piece of land that would become ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Connecticut, where it remains today.

ESPN debuted on Sept. 7, 1979, with the inaugural broadcast of SportsCenter. Bill was named the company’s first president and CEO.

However, Getty pushed both Rasmussens out and seized control of the company once it started to show signs of success.

The network acknowledged Bill during its 20th anniversary celebration, reconciling with the founder who, despite his winning idea, would not profit from or be a part of the billion-dollar company ESPN became.

“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 went on to other media ventures and was in demand as a public speaker. Earlier this year, ESPN released a documentary called Sports Heaven: The Founding of ESPN that details how the network came together.

Rasmussen is survived by his sons, Scott and Glen Rasmussen, his daughter Lynn Van Hollebeke, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

See social media celebrating the founder below.