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ESPN Inc. was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, initially as an attempt to broadcast Connecticut sports over an "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network" (ESPN) cable channel, and soon became a nationwide cable sports network.
The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. [2] ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami, Orlando, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
- Origins
- Initial Financing and Development
- College Sports Rights
- Leadership and Personnel
- Debut
- Professional Sports Arrive
- Expansion
- International Expansion
- 2017 Layoffs
- 2020–Present
ESPN was founded by Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott Rasmussen, then 43 year old eye doctor and Aetna insurance agent Ed Eagan. Bill, who had an affinity with sports for much of his life, was fired from his position as the communications manager for the New England Whalers in 1978. During his tenure with the hockey team, Rasmussen had met Eagan, who d...
The Rasmussens received financial aid from J. B. Doherty and K. S. Sweet Associates on an interim basis, but they were interested in finding permanent investors. Doherty shared a similar sentiment and after several failed attempts to do so, he approached Stuart Evey, a Getty Oil Company executive who was the vice president of non-oil operations.Eve...
With the newly found financial assistance, Bill, aware that ESP would struggle to secure rights to professional sports at the time, felt the company could strike a deal with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the rights to rebroadcast their college sporting events. College basketball at the time was popular, and Rasmussen felt ...
Rasmussen, realizing that ESP needed additional sponsors and advertising, decided to distinguish the network from the "Big Three three-letter networks," ABC, NBC and CBS, and renamed ESP as ESPN-TV. The name was shortened to just ESPN prior to the channel's launch. Evey, who had essentially gained control of the company, sought out ESPN's first pre...
On September7, 1979, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, an estimated 30,000 viewers tuned in to witness the launch of ESPN. Simultaneously, ESPN debuted its first SportsCenter telecast with anchors Lee Leonard and George Grande. The first words spoken were from Leonard who informed viewers: "If you're a fan, if you're a fan, what you'll see in the next min...
ESPN (along with the USA Network) was among the earliest cable-based broadcast partners for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lasting from 1982 to 1984, the network's relationship with the association marked its initial foray into American professional sports. After an 18-year hiatus, ESPN (by then, under the auspices of the ABC network) s...
ESPN set itself apart from its competition by using the top reporters for each of their respective sports by the early 1990s. Some examples include: Peter Gammons (baseball), Chris Mortensen (football), Al Morganti (hockey), David Aldridge (basketball) and Mel Kiper, Jr. (NFL Draft). Other well-known reporters have included Andrea Kremer, Ed Werder...
In the early 1990s, ESPN established a new division, ESPN International, to take advantage of the growing satellite markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. ESPN would also purchase a minority stake in a consortium known as NetStar Communications, which was formed to acquire the Canadian sports networks TSN and RDS from Labatt; due to rules regar...
On April 26, 2017, approximately 100 ESPN employees were notified that their position with the sports network had been terminated, among them athletes-turned-analysts Trent Dilfer and Danny Kanell, and noted journalists like NFL beat reporter Ed Werder and Major League Baseball expert Jayson Stark. The layoffs come as ESPN continues to shed viewers...
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. This declaration, along with sporting leagues having their players test positive for the disease, resulted in cancellations to almost all traditional sporting events globally over the next few weeks in the most severe disruption to the sporting c...
ESPN, Inc. is a pioneer among basic cable television networks, devoting its entire programming to a single subject: sports. By 2002 the company's flagship network, ESPN, reached more than 87 million households and televised all of the major professional leagues: baseball, football, hockey, and basketball.
Sep 20, 2024 · ESPN, Inc., cable television sports-broadcasting network based in Bristol, Conn. It was launched in 1979 and is one of the largest cable networks in the United States. Its success engendered additional ESPN networks, including an international sports network.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Serial entrepreneur and sports fan, Bill Rasmussen’s innovations in sports and broadcasting include the creation of ESPN; SportsCenter; wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA men’s and women’s regular-season and tournament college basketball coverage; and coverage of the College World Series.
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ESPN, the world’s leading multiplatform sports entertainment brand, features seven U.S. television networks, the leading sports app, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, leading social and digital platforms, ESPN.com, ESPN Audio, endeavors on every continent around the world, and more.
