ESPN co-founder Bill Rasmussen, a television trailblazer who changed how we watch sports, died on Tuesday at 93 due to the effects of Parkinson's disease, according to the company.
The network he co-founded honored him and his towering legacy by *checks notes* cutting out on his First Take tribute a bit early to go right into The Pat McAfee Show. Wait... what?!
In one of the most unfortunate errors of ESPN's recent history, a thoughtful First Take tribute to Rasmussen and his colossal impact on sports media got bumped before it was over for the start of Pat McAfee's weekday broadcast.
Is there anything more indicative of where sports television is right now than the co-founder of ESPN's tribute, from ESPN, getting pushed out of the way before it ends to make sure The Pat McAfee Show starts on time?
Talk about not having your progrumming priorities in order.
The tribute was cut off by the start of The Pat McAfee Show.pic.twitter.com/La9YTJZg6L
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 18, 2026
To be fair to McAfee, we're sure he wouldn't have cared if his show started a little later for a Rasmussen tribute.
However, whether it was just an unforced error or one deliberately done due to time, ESPN gave itself a pretty tough blooper on Tuesday that's also, y'know, a bit indicative of the direction the television side is going these days.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: ESPN cuts Bill Rasmussen tribute early for 'Pat McAfee Show'