ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen In 2011 Class of “The Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business” Award from Sports Business Journal & Sports Business Daily to be presented Wednesday, March 30th at IMG World Congress of Sports in Miami

Philadelphia, PA – March 22, 2011 – Bill Rasmussen, the legendary entrepreneur and life-long sports fan who founded ESPN, has been named to the 2011 class of “The Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business,” an award from the Sports Business Journal and the Sports Business Daily recognizing the architects and builders of sports.

Rasmussen and five illustrious colleagues will be honored during a special ceremony at the 10th annual IMG World Congress of Sports, March 30th in Miami, Florida. This year’s recipients also include women’s basketball trailblazer Val Ackerman; former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman; IMG Media’s Barry Frank; influential baseball labor leader Marvin Miller; and longtime sports executive Alan Rothenberg. Each was selected for having an accomplished body of work throughout their careers.

These six Champions will be honored at the IMG World Congress of Sports during a luncheon and subsequent panel discussion, where they will discuss their careers and their views on the business of sports, including how it has changed over the years.

The Champions panel discussion, “The Champions: Reflections and Forecasts from Pioneers and Innovators in Sports Business,” will take place on Wednesday, March 30th from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. in the Metropolitan Grand Ballroom of the JW Marriott Marquis Miami Hotel.

It is safe to say that Rasmussen changed the face of sports, and the face of television. His brainstorm for a 24-hour cable sports television station, born out of adversity, has become the Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN. Rasmussen is the man who had the dream, the founder of ESPN.

Rasmussen founded ESPN in the summer of 1978. He had his innovative brainstorm for an all-sports cable TV network within days of his firing by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association on Memorial Day weekend. A former radio and television sports broadcaster, Rasmussen had been the Whalers Communications Director, but when the Whalers didn’t make the 1978 WHA playoffs, Rasmussen and most of the front office staff were fired.

His idea for an all-sports cable TV network captured his imagination, and he incorporated the fledgling network on July 14, 1978. He had already begun to seek out cable television companies, sponsors, investors and partners. With an idea that was truly ahead of its time, and running out of cash, Rasmussen found one investor who believed in the concept in February, 1979, and by September 7, 1979, ESPN was on the air for the first time, 14 months from Rasmussen’s moment of inspiration.

A life-long entrepreneur and sports fan, Rasmussen’s innovations in advertising, sports and broadcasting are numerous and include not only the creation of ESPN, but also the concept for “Sports Center,” wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA regular-season and “March Madness” college basketball, and coverage of the NFL Draft. He broke the advertising barrier to cable television by signing Anheuser Busch to the largest cable TV advertising contract ever.

Rasmussen’s entrepreneurial daring, his irrepressible enthusiasm and a dash of good luck gave the world the first 24-hour television network. Once unleashed upon sports fans, ESPN’s impact forever changed the way we watch television.

Rasmussen has revealed the inside story of the birth of ESPN in his book, “Sports Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN.” A new paperback edition of the bestselling book was published in the summer of 2010 and is on sale at his website, ESPNFounder.com, as well as through Amazon.com and other book stores. In February 2011, the book became available for electronic download on Amazon’s Kindle and other devices.

Named “The Father of Cable Sports” by USA Today, Rasmussen was named to The Sports 100, honoring the 100 most important people in American Sports History. His place in sports history was further recognized by Sports Illustrated in 1994, when he was honored as one of the “40 for the Ages,” one of 40 individuals who has significantly altered and elevated the world of sport in the last half of the 20th Century.

In addition to his role as the “George Washington of ESPN,” as longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman has tagged him, Rasmussen served as a consultant to the Big Ten Conference as well as several of the member institutions on television matters, and has been at the helm of numerous other start-up companies both in traditional media and on the Internet.

Rasmussen is a gifted raconteur and a popular public speaker discussing American entrepreneurship, innovation, and the birth of ESPN. He is also a frequent guest on radio and television shows, including recent appearances on the nationally-syndicated radio shows “Sports Byline USA with Ron Barr” and “The Dennis Miller Show.” He also has appeared on the syndicated cable television interview show, “It’s Your Call,” and is profiled in an upcoming issue of SUCCESS Magazine as well as an upcoming issue of The Sports Business Journal.

In February 2011, Rasmussen spoke at a special business breakfast and book signing in his honor, hosted by the Philadelphia Business Journal. Also in February he was guest of honor at "An Evening with ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen" in Philadelphia sponsored by the Center City Proprietors Association.

In January, 2011, Rasmussen delivered the keynote address at the 2011 Kellogg Marketing Conference at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

In October, 2010, Rasmussen delivered the keynote at the 17th annual CEO Forum at the University of Saint Francis (Fort Wayne, Ind.). He also was guest of honor for an “Evening with ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen” at the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce.

Rasmussen delivered the keynote at the 2010 Maastricht Institute of Entrepreneurship at Missouri Valley College (Marshall, Missouri) in April, 2010. In August, 2009, he delivered the keynote at the Centennial Celebration of Lambda Chi Alpha in Indianapolis.

Rasmussen’s recent speaking tour has also included engagements at Villanova University, Bay Path College, Princeton University, Quinnipiac University’s School of Law, the University of Florida School of Law, Azusa Pacific University, Lindenwood University, Saint Xavier University, Indiana Tech, and The Center for Sports Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, among others.

Additional information is available online at http://www.ESPNFounder.com.

Media Contact:
Jim DeLorenzo
Jim DeLorenzo Public Relations
215-266-5943
jim@jhdenterprises.com