{"product_id":"early-days-of-espn","title":"Early Days of ESPN","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe tales of early ESPN people who gambled their careers while critics carped that all-sports television will never work are full of guile, luck, fear, fun, and unbridled optimism. As ESPN's founding executive producer, Peter Fox was privy to some spectacular professional efforts by a cadre of Connecticut locals who made the dream real. The first 300 days of the fledgling network were filled with mayhem, on-air gaffes, and the slowest instant replay in television. What started as a humble idea in the late spring of 1978 to capitalize on the brand-new mania for UConn men's basketball soon morphed into ESPN and a plan to begin airing a series of test broadcasts in the fall. This is the story of the early days at ESPN, told by one on the network's launching pad, and how a conversation over a couple of martinis in 1978 led to the creation of a broadcast juggernaut.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Phoenix Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46610624708777,"sku":"PHBK-9781493079575","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0578\/9899\/1785\/files\/content_03ffd43c-159b-4812-861a-5f8dd42f78f5.jpg?v=1764709269","url":"https:\/\/myti.com\/products\/early-days-of-espn","provider":"Myti","version":"1.0","type":"link"}