Bill Rasmussen was fired by the New England Whalers in May 1978. Instead of leaving Connecticut, he stayed, bought an $18,000 dirt lot in Bristol and founded what would become ESPN.
"Bill always, his entire life, has been an optimist and had this warmth to him," said Mike Soltys, an ESPN historian and former vice president of corporate communications who knew Rasmussen for decades.
Rasmussen died at 93 in August, leaving behind one of the most consequential media companies in Connecticut history. His relationship with Soltys started in 1980 when Rasmussen tapped Soltys to become the network's first intern after Soltys told him he would work for free.
A firing becomes an opportunity
Rasmussen's decision to stay in Connecticut after losing his public relations job with the Whalers proved consequential. He initially envisioned a Connecticut sports network featuring teams and events such as UConn and the Bristol Red Sox.
Then he saw an opportunity in newly available satellite technology.
"RCA was having a hard time selling satellite time that they now had available," Soltys said. "And Bill saw you could do sports around the country."
That timing helped transform Rasmussen's idea from a local sports operation into a national network. ESPN launched from Bristol in September 1979, and Soltys said Rasmussen's idea arrived at a pivotal moment in the development of cable television and 24-hour content.
"Bill doing that in Bristol with ESPN, Ted Turner about a year later with CNN, and then MTV and cable just took off," Soltys said.
The entrepreneur loses control
Rasmussen's vision attracted the financial backing necessary to turn ESPN into a reality, but the investment also meant he eventually lost control of the company.
Getty Oil provided the money Rasmussen needed, then took control and removed him from the network's day-to-day operations. Soltys said Rasmussen could have viewed that outcome bitterly, but he didn't.
"Bill, in his very positive approach, never was bitter," Soltys said. "He was very appreciative that he had the opportunity to launch ESPN."
Soltys said Rasmussen remained amazed by ESPN's success and was grateful to have played a role in creating it. He and Rasmussen later worked together on a documentary and book about ESPN's origins.
From a crazy idea to a media revolution
The early ESPN employees believed in Rasmussen's concept even when much of the outside media world remained skeptical of a 24-hour sports network.
Soltys said the difference became apparent once viewers could actually experience what ESPN offered.
"Once people saw it, they signed up for it, and it just skyrocketed to success pretty quickly through the '80s," Soltys said.
For viewers accustomed to getting sports primarily during scheduled broadcasts on the major networks, ESPN offered something fundamentally different: sports whenever they wanted to watch it, along with sports news throughout the day.
A legacy that reaches beyond ESPN
Rasmussen's influence can be seen not only in the global sports media industry, but also in Bristol and throughout Connecticut.
Soltys pointed to ESPN's economic impact on Bristol, including its contribution to the city's tax base and the employment opportunities created by a company that might never have existed if Rasmussen had left Connecticut after losing his NHL team job.
"To put it in Bristol, Connecticut, of all places, and the impact that had," Soltys said. "He definitely made a major impact on the economy of Connecticut."
The optimism behind the idea
Soltys said Rasmussen's optimism was not simply a business strategy. It was a defining part of his personality.
The two originally considered calling their documentary and book Intentional Optimism, a phrase Rasmussen used when pitching ESPN to people who doubted the idea.
"If you said to him, 'Ah, that idea makes no sense,' in his head he would say, 'Well, that guy's wrong. I'm right. On to the next guy,'" Soltys said.
Soltys said Rasmussen maintained that attitude even after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Rather than focusing on the difficulties of the illness, Rasmussen tried to use his experience to help others.
"He would wake up in the morning,” Soltys said “and he would say, 'Today is going to be a good day!’"
