Watch: ESPN Botches On-Air Tribute to Network's Founder on the Day of His Death
ESPN botched a tribute to its late founder, Bill Rasmussen, after it was announced that he had died on Tuesday at the age of 93.
The moment was indicative of the current state of the so-called “Worldwide Leader in Sports.”
While ESPN has spent decades giving sports fans 24-hour coverage of major sporting events, the last 10 or so years have seen Rasmussen’s creation become a place of dysfunction.
ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network forever changed the landscape of sports media, died today at the age of 93.
A game-changer for the ages. Thank you for everything, Bill ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hOCy8QyUEo
— ESPN (@espn) August 18, 2026
ESPN slowly but surely became a haven for left-wing activism after the election of former President Barack Obama in 2008.
By 2016, shows such as “First Take” had devolved into arenas for the left’s culture wars and the celebration of issues such as DEI initiatives.
It was ironically on Tuesday’s edition of “First Take” that the slipping of ESPN’s production became apparent.
As the show attempted to honor Rasmussen, the tribute was cut short by the voice of perhaps the network’s only true remaining on-air star.
As an image of ESPN’s founder flashed on screen, host Pat McAfee’s show started, and the host unwittingly ended the tribute early.
ESPN’s tribute to Bill Rasmussen at the end of ‘First Take’ was cut off by the beginning of ‘The Pat McAfee Show’: pic.twitter.com/uM2oVNywXj
— Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) August 18, 2026
“Hello, beautiful people,” McAfee said, presumably unaware of problems in the booth.
His show carried on as normal.
If you’ve never been in the producer’s booth, there is a clock, and there are multiple people planning out every second of a given live television broadcast.
The botched attempt to honor the man who created ESPN was either on the hosts or the production staff — and maybe on both.
As ESPN noted in a web story about Rasmussen that avoided any kind of inept disruptions:
Rasmussen died at his Florida home from the effects of Parkinson’s disease.
With son Scott, Rasmussen conceived of the initial idea of ESPN — first, as solely a Connecticut venture, and then as a 24-hour national sports network.
It was a moment for risk-taking. In the late 1970s, not many people thought an around-the-clock cable sports network had any chance. Bill Rasmussen, who had just been fired as communications director of the New England Whalers, was one of them. He maxed out his credit card, and with his $9,000 advance, acquired valuable space on a communications satellite.
Non-sports fans might know Scott for his polling firm Rasmussen Reports, which he founded in 2003.
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