ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen among Business Leaders Speaking at Build: Live Miami Conference Tuesday, December 4th at Viceroy Miami
Miami,
FL – December 4, 2012 -- ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen, the legendary entrepreneur who founded
the World Wide Leader in Sports, ESPN, will deliver a keynote speech today -- Tuesday, December 4th, at Build: Live Miami, a day-long program designed
for CEO’s of middle-market companies.
During
his presentation, which is scheduled for this afternoon from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., Rasmussen will tell the story of the
birth of ESPN and the creation of a
global sports enterprise. He will also
speak about leadership and the skills necessary to create such a successful
global brand icon. It’s a rare opportunity
to hear and feel the stories of a man who was considered by the three major
television networks at the time (ABC, NBC & CBS) a dreamer and all-around
“crazy man” to even think that he could compete with them.
Build: Live Miami is a production of The
Build Network, the new source of insight and connection dedicated to CEOs
and executive teams of mid-sized businesses — the economy’s hot core. The Build Network is part of the Inc.
Magazine family of companies. Build: Live Miami begins at 8:30 a.m.
on Tuesday morning and continues through 7 p.m. at The Viceroy Miami (485
Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida
33131). Additional information about the
conference is available at http://events.thebuildnetwork.com/miami-2012.
Rasmussen was recently named Executive in Residence at The
Robert C. McDermond Center for Management & Entrepreneurship at DePauw
University. He began his new post on
October 1st. He is a 1954
graduate of DePauw, and received his MBA from Rutgers in 1960.
Try
to imagine the world without ESPN
and Sports Center, and for many, it
is impossible. 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 network, born out of adversity, has become the Worldwide Leader in
Sports, ESPN. 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 others on
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, including the creation of ESPN,
the concepts for “Sports Center,”
wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA regular-season and “March Madness” college basketball, and coverage of the College World Series. He broke the advertising barrier to cable
television by signing Anheuser Busch to the largest cable TV advertising
contract ever.
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. Rasmussen was 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
is
the author of the best-selling book, “Sports
Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN” (available in paperback and e-book at ESPNFounder.com). He is a gifted raconteur and a popular public
speaker discussing American entrepreneurship, innovation, and the birth of ESPN, and a frequent guest on radio and
television shows. His recent appearances
include nationally-syndicated radio shows “Sports
Byline USA with Ron Barr”, “The
Dennis Miller Show” and the FOX News Channel’s “Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld.”
He has been touring the nation over the past
two years, with a national speaking tour that has included recent appearances
at Arizona State University, Union
College, DePauw University, Azusa Pacific University, University of
Connecticut, University of Kansas, Rutgers University, The Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania, University of South Carolina, Wichita State
University and Auburn University. Rasmussen
has also recently spoken to audiences at a number of private, corporate
events, in addition to speaking at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of
Management, Villanova University, Princeton University, University of Florida
School of Law and The Center for Sports Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth
University, among others.
Additional information about Rasmussen
is available at http://www.ESPNFounder.com. You can also follow Rasmussen on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/ESPN-Founder-Bill-Rasmussen/124610977602209)
and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/@bill_espn).