ESPN’s origin story will come to life for viewers in just a couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, ESPN announced that “Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN” will premiere on Monday, April 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET on, you guessed it, ESPN. The film chronicles ESPN’s early days and includes interviews with Bill Rasmussen and his son Scott, the visionaries that conceived the idea of a 24/7 network dedicated entirely to sports.
The project will, somewhat curiously, debut directly against the championship game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that same night. Bill Rasmussen, however, acknowledged the symbolic nature of the scheduling.
“With the NCAA playing such an important role in ESPN’s birth, I’m delighted our origin story will air this year at the cap of March Madness,” he said in a press release.
“Sports Heaven” will document the earliest days of ESPN, as Rasmussen and his partners solicit Getty Oil to fund the improbable business of a 24/7 sports television channel, setup shop in Bristol, build an entire satellite infrastructure, and figure out what the heck to broadcast for 8,760 hours per year.
“Imagine someone challenging you to start a new television network in an industry you know very little about, with no money, no programming, and no advertisers – and somehow turn it into one of the most recognizable brands in the world,” director Greg DeHart said in the premiere announcement. “Bill and Scott Rasmussen did exactly that in just 14 months.”
The documentary features interviews from many foundational figures to ESPN’s story, including Chuck Pagano, Mary Walton, George Grande, George Conner, Geoff Bray, Rosa Gatti, George Bodenheimer, Chris Berman, Bob Ley, Jimmy Pitaro, Mike Soltys, Josh Krulewitz, Howard Baldwin, Dennis Randall, Ken Boudreau, Mike Buckler, Al Parinello, John Leone, Greg Wyatt, and J.B. Doherty.
While there’s certainly some irony to a media company airing a documentary about itself, this project seems more earnest than self-promotional. Former longtime ESPN communications executive Mike Soltys, who now sports the title of “ESPN Historian” for the network, contributes as a producer. And the film was produced independently by Tenero Productions.
Because of who the project is for, “Sports Heaven” might choose to gloss over some of the more unflattering or salacious details about ESPN’s early days available in James Andrew Miller’s oral history of ESPN “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN,” but that shouldn’t take away from the overall story.
Either way, the film will be worth a watch for sports media obsessives.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.