NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — The New England Whalers fired their TV and radio host, Bill Rasmussen, on Memorial Day 1978.
Rasmussen was already producing half-hour-long sports-only broadcasts, but he decided to give round-the-clock sports a shot. His vision was a 24-hour, sports-only cable channel.
That's when ESPN was born. The network's flagship show, "Sportscenter," debuted on Sept. 7, 1979.
"We had some problems, though," Rasmussen admitted. "We had to figure out where we were going to find all that sports. 8,760 hours a year of nothing but sports."
It was difficult at first, but Rasmussen said they found their early path to success by broadcasting NCAA tournament basketball games starting in the early 80s.
"Walter Byers, the executive director at the time, said, 'Really? Every game? Every game?' He said, 'You mean to tell me if Lamar Tech plays Weber State, you televise that game?' [I said] If they’re in the Tournament, yeah," Bill remembered when discussing the early negotiations with the NCAA. "Once March Madness kinda got on, people said, 'Whoa, what is this?' If we had a flatline, just elevate it slightly when we announced, and kept floating skyward, and then took off like a rocket."
Launching a 24-hour network of any kind is a massive undertaking, but Rasmussen said everyone fed off the collective energy of pushing for success.
"The enthusiasm of everyone that came to work. They really wanted to work," he said. "They really wanted to expand sports, make it a good business. And it sure turned out that way."
In the early days, Rasmussen said he got laughed out of offices for offering ESPN at a price of one cent per day to cable companies. That didn't weaken his determination to sell a winning product.
"I thought if we could penetrate the market and get some people talking about it, it could take off. How high it would go? Who knew? I thought it’d be very successful," he said.
Rasmussen's attitude helped bring ESPN from a network searching for content and distribution to earning the nickname "The Worldwide Leader In Sports."
"I’ve always been an optimist. Have an idea, and it’s a good idea. Sports fans are everywhere," Rasmussen said. "As I’d always say when I’d try and sell something…young, old, rich, poor, male, female, north, east, south, west, wherever. There are sports fans."
Rasmussen, 90, got a big test for his positivity after a visit to the doctor changed his life.
"I’m always optimistic. When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s [disease], I found out being optimistic is a pretty good thing."
Rasmussen kept his positive outlook on life. He even decided to write a second book, "ESPN: One Giant Leap For Fankind." He credited his neurologist for helping to kickstart the writing process.
"Do all the exercises, take all the medications, do all those things," Rasmussen added. "He was tapping his head, and he said, 'But exercise the brain. Get up every day and write something. Even if it’s just a single page, write something that you have to think about. Keep the brain active.'"
The new book details Rasmussen's early experiences with sports and takes readers through a time machine of sports history.
"I remember my father working three jobs. I remember rationing gas and food and seeing all that stuff. And I thought, 'What about sports?' Tie it into that," he explained. "Come to find out that sports turned out to be a big relief during the depression days and so on."
Rasmussen now makes his home in New Port Richey. He doesn't work full-time, but he doesn't dare use the word "retired," either. He wants to share his story and help in the fight against Parkinson's disease.
"Should we all lay down and say, 'I’m gonna quit working, quit doing things, and wait until I die?' Not me," he said with conviction. "Nobody wants to do that."
