# 440: "Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN" - With Greg DeHart & Mike Soltys

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/good-seats-still-available-7112953/440-sports-heaven-the-birth-of-espn-with-greg-dehart-mike-soltys
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Podcast: [Good Seats Still Available](https://stenobird.com/podcast/good-seats-still-available-7112953)
Published: 2026-04-06T02:46:56+00:00
Episode link: https://goodseatsstillavailable.libsyn.com/placeholder-376
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/goodseatsstillavailable/GSSA_440.mp3?dest-id=480273
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Duration seconds: 4275

## Resource

ESPN didn't begin as a media giant — it started as a gamble. In 1979, a cash-strapped startup bet on an unproven proposition: a 24-hour sports cable TV network delivered by satellite, built largely on programming no one else wanted and live coverage that barely existed. By any conventional measure, it was an absurd idea. It also changed sports media forever. This week, we revisit that origin story through a new lens: " Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN ," premiering April 6th on (where else?) ESPN. The documentary traces how founders Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott, and an unlikely group of partners pushed past industry skepticism, financial instability, and the daunting challenge of programming an "always-on" sports network — laying the groundwork for what would become a global media powerhouse. Joining us are director Greg DeHart and producer Mike Soltys , ESPN's longtime institutional historian, to explore both the story itself and the challenge of telling it. Drawing on archival footage and interviews with the Rasmussens, along with early executives and production pioneers, the film captures the improvisational, high-risk reality of ESPN's earliest days. We discuss what the filmmakers uncovered that even seasoned observers may not know, how they balanced nostalgia with clear-eyed storytelling, and why ESPN's startup DNA — equal parts technological leap, programming opportunism, and entrepreneurial persistence — still resonates in today's fractured sports media landscape. " Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN " premieres April 6th at 8:30pm ET on ESPN. The companion audiobook is also available now, with a hardcover book to be released in May. + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee : https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable The "Good Seats" Store : http://tee.pub/lic/Rdi…

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