On This Date in Sports September 7, 1979: ESPN on the Air
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
ESPN begins broadcasting at 7:00 pm with Lee Leonard and George Grande hosting SportsCenter. The concept of a 24-hour sports network came from Bill Rasmussen, who had previously worked with the WHA’s New England Whalers. After first contemplating a network for New England sports, Rasmussen received a significant investment from Getty Oil to put ESPN on a satellite to show across the county on the newest form of entertainment, cable television.
Bill Rasmussen had a lengthy background in media and sports, working for a variety of television stations in New England. In 1974, Rasmussen took a job as Director of Communications with the New England Whalers of the WHA. A position he would hold for four years. After being dismissed in 1978.
Prior to being fired from the Whalers, Bill Rasmussen began talking to Ed Eagan about a monthly cable program for the Whalers in Connecticut. The two continued to speak and wondered what if they created an entire cable channel for sports in Connecticut airing the Whalers, UConn and other local teams. Looking to pitch their idea, of what they called Entertainment and Sports Programing, Rasmussen and Eagan found few takers. Despite the setbacks, ESP was moving forward, when they learned it would be less expensive to place on a satellite which would make it available nationwide.
The project got a big boost in 1979 when they received a significant investment from Getty Oil. With the investment of Getty Oil, ESP was now able to secure broadcast rights with the NCAA to show college sports. This included basketball as the rating of the 1979 NCAA Tournament Championship sparked renewed interest in the sport. A few months before the launch ESP was rebranded as ESPN, to differentiate itself from other networks as Chet Simmons was hired as Director of Programming.
As Simmons took over and began to put together the on-air talent, Rasmussen’s who came up with the idea of ESPN was pushed to the background. The left the founder and the network at odds for years. When the big day came, cable television as still years from its explosion as less than 20% of homes in America had it. When the cameras turned on with the first SportsCenter and approximate 30,000 viewers tuned in to watch. The first highlight came from the US Open, with Chris Everett beating Billie Jean King. After the 30-minute episode of SportsCenter aired, ESPN showed its first sporting events which were slow-pitch softball and college soccer.
The growth of ESPN would be slow, Chet Simmons left and became the commissioner of the USFL, which would become the first professional league to air on the fledgling network. In the early days, it was college sports that helped build an audience. In 1984, ESPN was sold by Getty Oil to ABC Television Network. This would help significantly as they began landing more professional contracts, getting the NFL in 1987 and MLB three years later.
