Bill Rasmussen died on August 18, 2026, at 93, closing the life of the founder and first president who turned a sports-only idea into a network. Jimmy Pitaro called him “a visionary and an innovator who conceived the idea of a network entirely devoted to sports.”
Rasmussen’s death matters inside ’s history because he helped build the company from an idea discussed in traffic on Connecticut’s Interstate 84 in August 1978 into The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. The network launched in 1.4 million homes at 7 p.m. ET on September 7, 1979, with SportsCenter on the air from Lee Leonard and George Grande.
July 1979 and the first handoff
In July 1979, Rasmussen was named Chairman and Chet Simmons succeeded him as President. That split showed how quickly the company was moving from a founder-led concept to a structured operation, with leadership passing before the network had even reached its first year on air.
Under Rasmussen’s leadership, introduced around-the-clock sports programming and, by the spring of 1980, coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Those were not decorative additions; they were the early proof that the channel’s programming schedule could expand beyond a single launch-night show and into a full-service sports outlet.
Jimmy Pitaro on Fenway Park
Pitaro said, “Quite simply, none of us would be here today if it wasn’t for Bill’s passion and all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit he put into building in the late 1970s – key aspects of our company culture that still carry on to this day.” He added, “One of my greatest thrills since joining was getting to know Bill on a personal level.”
He also said, “I will always cherish the memory of catching the ceremonial first pitch that he threw at Fenway Park in Boston in celebration of our 40th anniversary.” The note is personal, but it also lands as a marker of how much of ’s identity traces back to one founder’s pitch for a network that did not yet exist.
Lois, Scott, and the family
Rasmussen was predeceased by his wife Lois in 2011 and is survived by Scott Rasmussen, Laura, Glenn Rasmussen, Lynn Van Hollebeke, Louie, seven grandchildren, one great grandson Otto, and one great granddaughter Adelaide. His death from the effects of Parkinson’s Disease leaves with a clean historical line back to its start, even as the company he built outlived the man who imagined it.
