ESPN really began in an unusual way. Bill Rasmussen is the brain child behind ESPN. However, he did not create ESPN until he lost his job with a hockey association. His son was also fired from the same association, so both of them got together and came up with this idea. At first, Rasmussen and his son had trouble setting up their broadcast because they had to place so many dishes on their roof where they were renting space.
However, Disney purchased ESPN some years later. Since Disney was known as the Wide World of Disney, ESPN became known as the Wide World of Sports. It began in the late 1990s when Anaheim became the Anaheim Mighty Ducks after the movie was made.