ESPN
Bill Rasmussen stood in a Plainville, Connecticut office on the 14th of May 1978. He had just been fired from the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers. His son Scott and partner Ed Eagan joined him to build something new. They needed money to buy land for their own facility. Getty Oil provided that funding by purchasing 85% of the company on the 22nd of February 1979. The network launched on the 7th of September 1979 with only 1.4 million cable subscribers watching SportsCenter. Anheuser-Busch invested $1 million in the spring of 1979 to become the exclusive beer advertiser. This deal helped the fledgling company gain credibility among skeptics.
ABC purchased 100% of ESPN from the Rasmussens and Getty Oil over two months in 1984. Capital Cities Communications acquired ABC ownership in 1985 before Disney bought the parent company in 1996. The Supreme Court ruled NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma in 1984 allowed schools to negotiate their own contracts. ESPN secured rights to broadcast eight NFL games during the 1987 regular season. These Sunday night telecasts became the highest-rated NFL broadcasts for seventeen years until NBC took over in 2006. The channel lost out on major deals like the National Hockey League to USA Network while under Getty ownership due to lack of corporate funding.
SportsCenter taped its first episode in front of a small live audience inside Bristol studios on the 7th of September 1979. Chris Berman joined the network one month after launch and remained an on-air fixture for decades. Dick Vitale began his broadcasting career covering NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament games starting in March 1980. ESPN Films created the documentary series 30 for 30 which started airing in 2009. O.J.: Made in America won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. This marked the first Oscar win for any ESPN production. The Pat McAfee Show moved to ESPN as part of a five-year deal worth $85 million in 2023.
ESPN+ launched as a supplemental over-the-top streaming service on the 12th of April 2018. It cost subscribers $4.99 per month when it first appeared. WatchESPN originally launched on the 25th of October 2010 as ESPN Networks for Time Warner Cable subscribers only. The platform merged with ESPN3 on the 31st of August 2011 before being discontinued entirely on the 30th of June 2019. Disney announced plans to launch a direct-to-consumer product incorporating main channels and ESPN+ content later in May 2025. Venu Sports was a joint venture with Fox Sports and TNT Sports that faced legal issues including an antitrust lawsuit by FuboTV. That service ultimately cancelled after planning to launch in fall 2024.
Penn Entertainment announced a deal to brand its sportsbooks with ESPN branding on the 8th of August 2023. ESPN Bet began operations in seventeen states starting the 14th of November 2023. Doug Kezirian hosted Daily Wager which became the network's first regularly scheduled program dedicated solely to gaming-related content. This new betting-themed show aired daily starting March 2019. A mutual early termination of the agreement occurred on the 6th of November 2025. DraftKings received a new contract commencing the 1st of December 2025 following the split from Penn Entertainment. ESPN also agreed to stream WWE live premium events on its forthcoming streaming service starting September 2025.
Deadspin reported an internal memo sent to employees on the 8th of October 2019 instructing them to avoid political discussions regarding China and Hong Kong. The memo followed a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. ESPN apologized for submitting fake names for Sports Emmy award consideration over many years during 2024. The network returned thirty-seven trophies awarded to ineligible recipients to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Approximately one hundred ESPN employees lost their positions on the 26th of April 2017 including Trent Dilfer and Danny Kanell. Critics argue that ESPN focuses too much on men's college and professional sports while giving very little coverage to women's sports or extreme sports.
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Common questions
When did ESPN launch and how many cable subscribers watched the first broadcast?
ESPN launched on the 7th of September 1979 with only 1.4 million cable subscribers watching SportsCenter.
Who founded ESPN and which company provided initial funding in 1979?
Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott, and partner Ed Eagan founded ESPN after Bill was fired from the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers. Getty Oil provided that funding by purchasing 85% of the company on the 22nd of February 1979.
What happened to WatchESPN and when was it discontinued?
WatchESPN originally launched on the 25th of October 2010 as ESPN Networks for Time Warner Cable subscribers only before being merged with ESPN3 on the 31st of August 2011. The platform was discontinued entirely on the 30th of June 2019.
Which ESPN production won an Academy Award and when did this occur?
O.J.: Made in America won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. This marked the first Oscar win for any ESPN production.
When did ESPN Bet begin operations and how many states were included initially?
ESPN Bet began operations in seventeen states starting the 14th of November 2023 following a deal announced on the 8th of August 2023. Penn Entertainment later terminated the agreement on the 6th of November 2025, leading to a new contract with DraftKings commencing the 1st of December 2025.