In the exclusive behind the scenes look, sports fans can unlock the fascinating history of the channel that changed the way people watch and interact with their favorite teams. It began, in 1979, as a mad idea of starting a cable channel to televise local sporting events throughout the state of Connecticut. Today, ESPN is arguably the most successful network in modern television history, spanning eight channels in the Unites States and around the world. But the inside story of its rise has never been fully told-until now. Drawing upon over 500 interviews with the greatest names in ESPN's history and an All-Star collection of some of the world's finest athletes, bestselling authors James Miller and Tom Shales take us behind the cameras. Now, in their own words, the men and women who made ESPN great reveal the secrets behind its success-as well as the many scandals, rivalries, off-screen battles and triumphs that have accompanied that ascent. From the unknown producers and business visionaries to the most famous faces on television, it's all here.

ESPN: The Uncensored History traces the first 24-hour sports network from its inception through its evolution into a slick media outlet reaching more than 60 million homes via more than 26,000 cable providers. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, ESPN, has blazed a stunning path of achievement with its expansive coverage of broadcast sports--spinning off into ESPN2, ESPN Classic Sports, ESPNews, and ESPN Magazine--but has also experienced its share of controversy. Along the way, this American entrepreneurial triumph has alienated on-air talent, drawn charges of racial discrimination, and seen employees accused of blatant sexual harassment. ESPN's success story is no fairy tale. Among the colorful lore and amusing anecdotes lurk serious complications and controversies. Through information gleaned from internal documents, police and court records, and interviews with network employees, on-air talent, producers, and executives, ESPN: The Uncensored History probes the inside story of America's premiere sports network. Part corporate history, part media and cultural analysis, and part expose, the book examines both the positive developments effected by the network and the bad habits it has picked up from the business it covers. This paperback reveals the most recent developments at ESPN since the publication of the hardback, including the network's aggressive reactions to the book.

Once a shoestring operation built on plywood sets and Australian rules football, ESPN has evolved into a media colossus. A genius for cross-promotion and its near-mystical rapport with its viewers empower the network to set agendas and create superstars, to curate sports history even as it mainstreams the latest cultural trends. Travis Vogan teams archival research and interviews with an all-star cast to pen the definitive account of how ESPN turned X's and O's into billions of $$$. Vogan's institutional and cultural history focuses on the network since 1998, the year it launched a high-motor effort to craft its brand and grow audiences across media platforms. As he shows, innovative properties like SportsCentury, ESPN The Magazine , and 30 for 30 built the network's cultural caché. This credibility, in turn, propelled ESPN's transformation into an entity that lapped its run-of-the-mill competitors and helped fulfill its self-proclaimed status as the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." Ambitious and long overdue, ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire offers an inside look at how the network changed an industry and reshaped the very way we live as sports fans.

Take out the trash with Reggie Miller, ride the bus with Jerome Bettis, and get to first base with Mark Grace: some of the bestand funniestinterviews from ESPN's favorite sports authority Dan Patrick is never at a loss for words. Whether he's offering his own brand of irascible commentary on SportsCenter or taking on today's superstars in his enormously popular column in ESPN The Magazine, he always manages to offer refreshing insight that's as outrageous and entertaining as the world of sports itself. This hilarious collection of never before published "Outtakes" from his popular column features 25 interviews with some of today's most famous sports personalities, such as Mark McGwire, Wayne Gretzky, and Barry Sanders, each preceded with new and colorful introductions that offer Patrick's uncensored reflections. Dan Patrick's no-holds-barred approach to interviewing captures the players like no one can, and in this collection of new and greatest hits he is certain to win more fans than ever before.

ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, has combined its considerable resources with the talents of some of sports' most renowned authors, academics, commentators, and observers to create this memorable chronicle of sports in our century. ESPN SportsCentury is a fitting tribute to the greatest athletes, best teams, biggest games, and most unforgettable moments, which have enthralled us while also influencing our political, social, and cultural development as a nation. Book jacket.

ESPN's rise is one of the most remarkable stories about business and sports in our time, and nobody can tell it better than George Bodenheimer. It may be hard to believe, but not long ago, getting sports updates was difficult and frustrating. ESPN changed everything. George Bodenheimer knows. Initially hired to work in the mailroom, one of Bodenheimer's first jobs was to pick up sportscaster Dick Vitale at the Hartford airport and drive him to ESPN's main campus--a couple of trailers in a dirt parking lot. But as ESPN grew, so did George's status in the company. In fact, Bodenheimer played a major part in making ESPN a daily presence not just here, but all over the world. In this business leadership memoir--written with bestselling author Donald T. Phillips--Bodenheimer lays out ESPN's meteoric rise. This is a book for business readers and sports fans alike. A Best Business Book of 2015, Strategy Business

Celebrating more than twenty-five years of the most eye-popping, mind-blowing, jump-off-the-couch-worthy sports highlights from the network that made them famous in the first place Every week for twenty-five years, ESPN's SportsCenter has collected seven days worth of the most extraordinary (or sometimes boneheaded) plays, controversial calls, last-second miracles, and strangest fans in action. Each highlight clip with its commentary is a mini-story about a game, a player, or a season. A few of the best of the best: Michael Jordan's take off from the foul line in the 1988 slam-dunk competition; Derek Jeter's foul-ball dive to help defeat the Red Sox in 2004; Christian Laettner's buzzer beater against Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Championship; Dwight Clarke completing "The Catch" in the 1982 NFC Championship; Brandi Chastain's bra-bearing victory celebration following the 1999 World Cup; and, of course, Dennis Rodman's hair. All of the trademark humor that makes ESPN the first stop and the last word for fans everywhere: razor-sharp commentary, infectious catchphrases, and unrepentant nicknaming. ESPN Plays of the Week is the first book ever to bring the nightly excitement of the most popular highlight reels in the world to the printed page.