Bill Rasmussen

Bill Rasmussen is the co-founder and first president and CEO of ESPN.

Biography

Early career

After success in the advertising business, Rasmussen’s career in the media began at WTTT radio in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1962. In 1965, he moved to WWLP-TV, Springfield, where he spent eight years as Sports Director and two years as News Director. In 1974 he left Springfield to join hockey’s New England Whalers as Communications Director. At the conclusion of the 1977-78 World Hockey Association season, Rasmussen was fired by the Whalers. Thus began the pursuit of the ESPN dream, incorporating the fledgling network on July 14, 1978. It began broadcasting fourteen months later, at 7 p.m. on September 7, 1979.

ESPN Founder

Rasmussen founded “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” in 1979 with his son, Scott Rasmussen. He has been called “The Father of Cable Sports” by USA Today (September 1994). Rasmussen launched world’s first 24-hour cable television network, ESPN, where he pioneered such innovations as “SportsCenter,” wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA regular season and “March Madness” basketball, and NFL draft coverage.^{[citation needed]}

Post ESPN

Rasmussen has served as a consultant to the Big Ten Conference, and several of the conference’s individual member institutions, on television matters. He has also been a consultant with numerous other startup media and internet companies. His internet ventures include serving as Chairman of the Attitude Network, home of the highly successful Happy Puppy and Games Domain sites; and as Chairman of SportsatHome, a sports-themed game site that offered an array of virtual sports stadiums and games to play online within each of the stadiums.

College Fanz

Rasmussen’s also introduced College Fanz, an online college sports community. The College Fanz Sports Network was launched on September 7, 2007. It contains over 22,000 web pages devoted to every team at over 1,450 colleges and universities throughout the United States competing in over 225,000 NCAA and NAIA athletic events. Fanz can post videos, photographs, and comment on their favorite teams and schools, participate in contests, and communicate with other fans. College Fanz also sponsors the College Fanz First Down Classic pre-season bowl game.

Honors

Rasmussen is active in numerous charity events, including nine years with the highly acclaimed Winged Foot Scholarship Program, and five years with a Senior PGA Tour event, and is a frequent participant in celebrity charity golf events throughout the country.

Among his honors and awards, Rasmussen was named to Rutgers University’s Wall of Fame in 2002, and in 2001 received the prestigious Order of Achievement from Lambda Chi Alpha. In 1997 he was inducted into the Connecticut Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Rasmussen was named to The Sports 100, honoring the 100 most important people in American Sports History. His place in sports history was recognized by Sports Illustrated in 1994 when he was honored as one of the “Forty for the Ages,” one of forty individuals who has significantly altered and elevated the world of sport during the second half of the 20th century.

Rasmussen was honored by the city of Enfield, Connecticut with a day in his honor on October 9, 2008. He has been a popular guest on the speaking circuit relating his entrepreneurial adventures (including the founding of ESPN) at Bay Path College, Princeton University, the University of Florida, and other college campuses. He is a frequent guest on business and sports radio talk shows to discuss his entrepreneurial career. Rasmussen is also the author of the popular book, “Sports Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN.”

A United States Air Force veteran, Rasmussen received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana) and his MBA from Rutgers University.