Evolution of ESPN by Vishu Gadre

ESPN debut

Sep 7, 1979

ESPN launches for the first time at 7pm ET. ESPN Sports Center Debut with ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen.

International Programming

Apr 1, 1983

ESPN begins distributing programming internationally.

Cable Contract

Mar 15, 1987

ESPN awarded NFL's first cable contract; begins fall '87.

Major League Baseball Agreement

Jun 5, 1989

ESPN and Major League Baseball reach a four-year agreement to begin in 1990.

ESPNet SportsZone

Apr 1, 1995

ESPNet SportsZone, a partnership between ESPN and Starwave Corp., makes its debut.

ESPN2 & Microsoft

Mar 14, 2001

ESPN2 reaches 75 million homes faster than any other network - 89 months. Deal struck to be the exclusive sports channel content provider for Microsoft’s MSN portal. It runs for three years and provides a major boost to ESPN.com traffic.

ESPN Agreement For Sport Coverage

Jan 22, 2002

ESPN reaches agreement for multimedia NBA coverage, becoming the first network to televise all four major professional sports-NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA. Debut of ESPNMotion, allowing broadband users to view automatically loading streaming video on the home page. Developed in part by Walt Disney Imagineering, ESPN Motion would help pave the way for ventures in live and on-demand streaming video. A Miami-Rutgers football game that October represents ESPN.com’s first live game webcast.

ESPN HD

Mar 30, 2003

ESPN HD, a high-definition simulcast service of ESPN, launches.

College Football & NFL

Jan 6, 2005

Shift to fantasy football games from strictly a paid service to free, helping generate what would become a historic mushrooming in consumer interest in fantasy games. ESPNU, a 24-hour network devoted to college sports, launches. ESPN Acquires Monday Night Football for eight years, beginning in 2006. ESPN acquires rights for multiple Men's and Women's World Cups. ESPN announces eight-year agreement with NASCAR, 2007 - 2014.

ESPNSoccernet

Jan 1, 2012

ESPN rebrands and relaunches ESPNSoccernet as ESPNFC, which becomes one of the world’s largest online soccer destinations.

Millions of Users

Jan 1, 2013

Establishment of a comScore traffic record for any U.S. digital sports entity with 72.7 million unique users in September. ESPN has since set four more sports category records, reaching a high of 93.97 million unique users domestically in January 2015.