Bill Rasmussen, ESPN co-founder and sports TV pioneer, dies at 93

SportBill Rasmussen, ESPN co-founder and sports TV pioneer, dies at 93Rasmussen revealed in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014Diego Pineda Tuesday 18 August 2026 18:52 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"CF1:3035111To1","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/bill-rasmussen-death-espn-cofounder-parkinsons-b3035151.html","title":"Bill Rasmussen, ESPN co-founder and sports TV pioneer, dies at 93"}}open image in gallery{"id":"trigger-autogallery-63469","index":0}Bill Rasmussen’s original idea was a cable channel covering only Connecticut sports (Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveInsideSportNews","regTitle":"Inside Sport","subscriptionGroup":"inside_sport","subscriptionGroupId":"9cec95c5-a973-40ac-9b05-03d636c07853","type":"sport","pathPrefix":["/sport","/f1"],"associatedAuthors":["Lawrence Ostlere","Kieran Jackson"],"title":"Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Sport newsletter","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/InsideSport1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideSport","regSourceSection":"Sport","regSourceNewsletter":"NSC"},"isClimate":false}Bill Rasmussen, who co-founded ESPN in 1979 after being dismissed from a public relations position with the World Hockey Association, died Tuesday at 93.ESPN historian Mike Soltys said Rasmu...