{
  "id": 1745665,
  "title": "Bill Rasmussen, ESPN’s Founder, Dies at 93",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/bill-rasmussen-espns-founder-dies-at-93",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-18T16:26:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Variety",
    "slug": "variety",
    "url": "https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/bill-rasmussen-espn-founder-dead-1236837219/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Bill Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN, has died at the age of 93. According to Variety, he had been battling Parkinson's disease. Rasmussen came up with the idea for an all-sports network in 1978 while stuck in traffic on Connecticut's Interstate 84, along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.\n\nRasmussen served as the network's first president and CEO when ESPN launched in September 1979. TheWrap reported that ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a statement praising Rasmussen's vision, passion, and hard work in building the network.\n\nRasmussen's legacy will be remembered as a key part of ESPN's culture. TheWrap also mentioned that Pitaro cherished the memory of Rasmussen throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park in Boston to celebrate ESPN's 40th anniversary.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}