George Conner
May 29, 2025 ·
1h 6m 4s
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Description
The sports network ESPN owes its existence to Tulsa’s own George Conner. After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a marketing degree in 1964, George went to work for...
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The sports network ESPN owes its existence to Tulsa’s own George Conner. After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a marketing degree in 1964, George went to work for Skelly Oil in downtown Tulsa.
When Getty Oil gained control of Skelly in 1974, George became a finance manager and was asked to study a proposed Connecticut-based Cable Television network committed to all-day, every-day sports programming. George approved the project and Getty Oil made an initial investment of $10 million which grew to $160 Million. ESPN went live on September 7, 1979.
Co-founder Bill Rasmussen stated: “I still firmly believe that, without Conner as the bridge to Getty money, there would have been no ESPN.”
Listen to George talk about the beginning of this new concept of a 24-hour sports network and his role in establishing ESPN on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.
show less
When Getty Oil gained control of Skelly in 1974, George became a finance manager and was asked to study a proposed Connecticut-based Cable Television network committed to all-day, every-day sports programming. George approved the project and Getty Oil made an initial investment of $10 million which grew to $160 Million. ESPN went live on September 7, 1979.
Co-founder Bill Rasmussen stated: “I still firmly believe that, without Conner as the bridge to Getty money, there would have been no ESPN.”
Listen to George talk about the beginning of this new concept of a 24-hour sports network and his role in establishing ESPN on the podcast and oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.
Information
| Author | John Erling |
| Organization | John Erling |
| Website | voicesofoklahoma.com |
| Tags |
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