ESPN has become as big a player in contemporary sports culture as many of the actual leagues are.
Don't believe us?
At this point, the network, based in Bristol, CT, is worth more than the NFL, and worth more than the NHL, NBA, and MLB combined.
We learned this previous fact from the fantastic book "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN," by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, which was published last year.
"Those Guys Have All the Fun" tells the booze-soaked underdog story of ESPN from its inception in 1979, when it was owned by an oil company and dedicated hours to sports like slow-pitch softball and Irish bicycling.
Drawing from the book, and other sources on the web, we took a look at where the original ESPNers ended up nearly 33 years later.
Father-son team Bill and Scott Rasmussen came up with the idea for ESPN and managed to get Getty Oil to fund it. But the professionals who were brought in eventually forced the Rasmussens out. Don't feel too bad for them, though — they managed to net $3,414,866 off a $39,000 investment.
Scott went on to become a political commentator, author and the founder/president of Rasmussen Reports. Bill has consulted on television operations, wrote a book about founding ESPN and now mostly does speaking engagements.
Stuart Evey was the Getty Oil executive who convinced the company to sign on with ESPN after he heard Rasmussen's pitch. When Getty sold ESPN to ABC in 1984, Evey's involvement ended. The book presents Evey as a hard drinker who clashed with those he brought in to run the company, but also deserves much of the credit for its initial direction and success. Evey wrote a book about ESPN, and he now consults and does speaking engagements.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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