The Man Who Bet on Sports: How Bill Rasmussen Built ESPN on Credit and Courage

Absolutely. For a young-and-old tribute, the best pairing I found is:

The official Bill Rasmussen archive has photographs from 1950, his early broadcasting career, the 1979 ESPN construction and launch, and later years. (ESPN Founder)

For the article, I’d use a young Rasmussen photo on the left and an older Rasmussen photo on the right, with a caption such as:

BILL RASMUSSEN — THEN & NOW
The young sports dreamer who bet on an idea—and the elder statesman who lived to see that idea change sports forever.

There are sports stories.

And then there are sports stories that changed sports forever.

Today, Bill Rasmussen died at the age of 93.

And if you are a sports fan—if you have ever sat on your couch and watched SportsCenter, flipped over to a college football game, watched the NBA, NFL, MLB, college basketball, the Olympics or practically any other sporting event you can name—you owe this man something.

Because before ESPN became the Worldwide Leader in Sports, before the millions of viewers, billion-dollar television contracts and iconic personalities, there was Bill Rasmussen, a crazy idea and a credit card.

Yes.

A credit card.

In 1978, Rasmussen had been fired from his job with the New England Whalers. Most people would have been thinking about finding another job.

Rasmussen was thinking about creating an entirely new television network devoted to sports.

Think about that.

In the late 1970s, the idea of a television network showing sports around the clock sounded, to many people, absolutely ridiculous. There weren't endless sports channels. There wasn't an internet. There wasn't social media. There wasn't a smartphone in everybody's pocket.

There was television.

And there were a handful of networks.

Rasmussen looked at that landscape and essentially said:

Why can't sports have its own network?

That question became ESPN.

According to ESPN's own history, Rasmussen and his son Scott developed the idea in 1978. The concept grew out of discussions about satellite television and the possibilities of delivering programming to cable systems around the country. During one famous traffic jam in Connecticut, father and son began imagining what a 24-hour sports network could become.

But an idea is one thing.

Paying for it is another.

And that's where this story gets unbelievable.

Rasmussen put his own money on the line. He used a $9,000 cash advance from a credit card to help get the operation moving and acquired satellite capacity that would eventually become a critical piece of ESPN's launch. Connecticut legislative records later documented that the company began with that $9,000 credit-card advance.

Read that again.

Nine thousand dollars.

Not nine million.

Not ninety million.

Nine thousand.

The company that would eventually become one of the most powerful forces in sports media began with an idea, a family willing to take a risk and a man willing to put his credit on the line.

That is not a business plan most people would recommend.

But sometimes history isn't made by people waiting for perfect conditions.

Sometimes history is made by people who say:

"I'm going to try."

Rasmussen kept knocking on doors. He talked to cable companies. He talked to sports leagues. He talked to investors. He tried to convince people that America wanted more sports television.

And eventually, somebody believed him.

Getty Oil became a major investor, providing the financial backing necessary to take ESPN from an audacious idea to a legitimate television network. But there was a price: Rasmussen ultimately lost control of the company he had helped create.

That's another part of this story that deserves attention.

He created the thing—and then watched other people take control of it.

Imagine that.

You have the vision.

You take the financial risk.

You put your name and reputation behind the idea.

You help build the company.

And then the company becomes bigger than you.

That's exactly what happened.

On September 7, 1979, ESPN went on the air.

And sports television would never be the same.

The network that began with a man betting on an idea eventually became the place where generations of sports fans went to find the scores, highlights, analysis, interviews and arguments that became part of the culture of American sports.

And let's be honest:

ESPN didn't just broadcast sports.

It changed how we talk about sports.

It helped turn highlights into appointment television. It helped make personalities into stars. It helped make sports analysis a form of entertainment. It helped create an entire culture around arguing about who was great, who was overrated, who choked and who deserved to be called a champion.

And it all started with a man who had just lost his job.

That's the part I want people to remember about Bill Rasmussen.

Not simply that he founded ESPN.

Remember how he did it.

He didn't have today's technology.

He didn't have an established business model.

He didn't have millions of dollars sitting in a bank account.

He didn't know whether America would embrace a 24-hour sports network.

He had an idea.

And he had the courage to put something behind it.

His own money.

His own credit.

His own reputation.

His own future.

Bill Rasmussen once said, "I believe the harder you work, the luckier you are."

That quote may tell you more about the man than anything else.

Because ESPN wasn't born from certainty.

It was born from uncertainty.

It wasn't born because everyone believed.

It was born because one man believed enough to keep going when plenty of other people didn't.

So today, when we talk about Bill Rasmussen, don't simply say:

"He founded ESPN."

That's true.

But it doesn't tell the whole story.

Say this instead:

Bill Rasmussen looked at American sports television and saw something that didn't exist.

Then he bet on it.

He put his credit card behind it.

He took the risk.

And eventually, the rest of the sports world caught up.

That is the legacy.

Before ESPN was the Worldwide Leader in Sports, it was just an idea.

And before it was an idea, it was a man sitting in traffic with his son, wondering what might be possible.

Sometimes that's how revolutions begin.

Not with billions.

Not with certainty.

Not with permission.

With an idea—and the courage to put your money where your mouth is.

Rest in peace, Bill Rasmussen.

The sports world you helped create will never forget you.