ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen died Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the age of 93 from complications of Parkinson’s disease, the network announced.

Rasmussen founded the network, along with his son Scott, that would become known as the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” in 1979 as a cable channel based in the middle of Connecticut – the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, which would become known as ESPN.

Never before had an entire channel been dedicated to sports 24 hours per day, seven days per week. In 1994, USA TODAY called Rasmussen the “Father of Sports Television.”

“Bill was a remarkable man – a visionary and an innovator who conceived the idea of a network entirely devoted to sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “Quite simply, none of us would be here today if it wasn’t for Bill’s passion and all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit he put into building ESPN in the late 1970s – key aspects of our company culture that still carry on to this day.”

The Rasmussens’ day-to-day control of ESPN ended the year after its founding, in 1980, when majority owner Getty Oil forced them out. Getty sold its 85% majority stake in the Bristol, Connecticut-based company to ABC in 1984.

Rasmussen was welcomed back to the company for the 20th anniversary celebration in 1999 following nearly two decades of estrangement. He and Pitaro threw out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park in 2019 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the network.

“Bill was our George Washington and a good friend,” ESPN legend Chris Berman, one of the first ESPN hires who joined three weeks after the launch, said in a statement. “He was such a grateful person and every sports fan can be grateful for Bill. He wasn’t a glass half-full guy; his glass was always overflowing with optimism. He greeted everyone with a smile and we can all smile knowing Bill’s legacy.”

Rasmussen was raised in Illinois and served in the Air Force before entering a sports broadcasting career in Massachusetts in the 1960s. He also worked as an advertising and public relations executive. Rasmussen was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.

“When someone tells you you can’t do something, you want to prove them wrong,” Rasmussen said, according to The Associated Press. “Many, many people told us there wasn’t enough sports to do a 24-hour channel. I didn’t argue with anybody. I just thought they were wrong and I was right.”

Rasmussen was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Lois, in 2011. He is survived by two sons – Scott, his wife Laura, and Glenn Rasmussen – his daughter Lynn Van Hollebeke and her husband Louie, seven grandchildren, one great grandson, and one great granddaughter.