Judging by how foundational it is today, one might assume that “In the beginning was ESPN.”
But that was far from the truth—in fact, ESPN’s beginnings were humble rather than preordained, as original SportsCenter anchor Bob Ley would be the first to tell you.
“I mean, I was interviewed in this ‘warehouse,’ essentially; they didn’t even have office space,” Ley said. “We didn’t have a control room—we used a remote truck; there was no plumbing at the time.”
“But we were going on the air,” Ley continued. “And it was the greatest experience you can imagine.”
A 1976 Seton Hall graduate and the co-founder of the university’s Center for Sports Media, Ley shared more about the network’s early days ahead of the release of “Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN,” a documentary film featuring Ley airing on April 6.
Like its title suggests, the documentary tells the story behind the inception of ESPN, the world’s first 24-hour sports network that has since grown to the very leader of the sports media industry—hence its moniker, “The Worldwide Leader in Sports.”
“The common question I’m always asked is, ‘Did you know it was gonna be what it turned out to be?’” Ley said. “No—nobody knew what it was gonna be. Our paychecks didn’t even bounce.”
One of several of the network’s earliest members featured in the documentary, Ley naturally got an early screening—and approved.
“I’ve seen the documentary—and it's accurate to my memory,” Ley said. “I mean, it was a struggle to get [ESPN] going, to keep it going, there was some political back and forth…but it's a great story, and I don’t see too many embellishments.”
For the documentary, Ley answered the producer’s questions about his role in the early development of the network, joining just on its third day of operation.
“That was as much fun as anything else,” Ley said about answering such questions. “And we just talked about the beginning.”
But, as he explained, there exists an alternate universe where Ley never even joined. In September of 1979, at the age of 24, Ley found himself torn between two different job offers: one with ESPN, and another with New Jersey Nightly News—and not much time to choose.
“I had about 18 hours to make up my mind,” Ley said after the latter job interview. “Was I going to relocate from New Jersey and move up to Central Connecticut and go with something that didn’t exist yet, or was I going to go with something that was on the air in New York and Philly, and well-established?”
What “swayed” Ley towards the former was, in fact, its “nonexistence” as a startup: Having worked with one before ESPN, Ley was familiar with the benefits of joining another, such as the greater freedom it granted him.
“It was a lot of hard work, but there was no bureaucracy,” Ley said. “It was all ‘retail,’ it was all ‘the rubber hits the road,’ and we just had to get things on the air.”
In concert with its humble beginnings, Ley explained that the lack of “guardrails” in ESPN’s early days made for an environment we may consider chaotic or unconventional nowadays.
“There were no rules—we had bosses of sorts, but they were busy with the ‘mega’ issues, the ‘35,000 foot’ issues, while we were in the trenches of the newsroom,” Ley said. “We were typing on typewriters with five-ply carbon script, you were allowed to smoke in the newsroom—it was like ‘Mad Men.’”
But Ley also explained that such an environment also fostered learning, consistency and collaboration out of necessity.
“I’d tell the producer, ‘I’d never done a structured sports news show, I’ve done talk shows,’ and the producer would say, ‘That’s ok, I’ve never produced a sports news show,’” Ley said, jokingly. “And we started to realize that we were all learning together, and that was the beauty of it.”
“It was the ultimate teaching experience for all of us,” Ley continued. “It made us all better professionals, communicators, broadcasters, because you had to do it every day, and there was no question about it.”
This shared learning experience and pursuit of a common goal created lifelong friends for Ley—or “brother’s-in-arms,” as he called them.
“Did we all want to succeed: yes; did we all want to make a few dollars: yes,” Ley added. “But there was a common sense of purpose, and that persists almost 50 years later when we get together.”
Ley further explained that crucial to ESPN’s early development was the NCAA, which granted the network exclusive rights to hundreds of athletic events in March of 1979.
“And having those collegiate contracts in the early years was essential,” Ley said. “Because we didn’t have a lot of pro deals.”
While forever grateful for the role they played in the network’s development, Ley is far more disappointed in the NCAA’s current state today, especially in its handling of player eligibility in college basketball.
“The NCAA as a governing body and political force is just a shell of what it was,” Ley said. “You could make the argument, as far as the major monetary and policy decisions in collegiate sports—and I put collegiate in parentheses—that the NCAA is virtually irrelevant.”
“The players always deserved a bigger voice and a slice of the pie—but be careful what you wish for,” Ley added. “Because what you get is ‘The Wild West,’ and everyone is lawyering up and finding the right judge.”
With the college basketball season and March Madness coming to a conclusion, Ley claims that ESPN did the first two NCAA Tournament bracket reveals.
"Now it's treated like a national security secret," Ley said. "And we have tape to prove that we did it first before anybody.”
With that in mind, Ley expressed further disappointment in SHU’s men’s basketball’s exclusion from this year's bracket and the player’s decision to decline non-NCAA postseason tournament invitations that followed—although he understands it, especially with the transfer portal set to open on April 7.
“I have not really followed the [NCAA] tournament that closely, especially since we didn’t get a bid,” Ley said. “And while I can understand the frustration of the players and the factors in play, it was disappointing to see that was their decision.”
“But I also want to be clear,” Ley later added, “If I’m a player in the here and now…you have to act in your best interest—and there’s nothing wrong with that; but for those who remember what was, it can sting a bit.”
Luckily for Ley, counteracting that disappointment was the satisfaction he felt seeing Stephen A. Smith make his third visit to The Hall a few weeks ago.
Having welcomed Smith back to South Orange in a video featured during the network’s broadcast of First Take that day, Ley offered further praise of Smith, calling him “the hardest working guy he’s ever encountered,” and someone whose friendship he treasures.
“I love what he told students: ‘Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do,’” Ley said. “You may want to be as big a presence or aspire to a position as a thought leader like Stephen A. Smith—but how did he get there? He got there by being a beat reporter, by covering small events.”
“As big as you can make it, as hard as you work, don’t forget where you came from—and Stephen never has,” Ley added. “And I think that message is as much of value to our students as anything he might have said about the profession.”
Similarly, Ley said he hopes the message for those who aspire to be in sports media someday will take away from the documentary is to embrace the unknown—as he did with a small startup sports network in Connecticut back in the day.
“Having an idea, an inspiration, a goal, a vision can pay off,” Ley said. “It takes a lot of hard work, but if you devote yourself to it, and you find people of similar mettle and a similar outlook, it can be one of the great experiences of your life.”
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
