Publisher, Hachette Audio (June 28, 2011)

Listen to a FREE audio clip.

An audio version of the New York Times Bestseller hardcover edition

ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.

Chris Berman, Robin Roberts, Keith Olbermann, Hannah Storm, Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Stuart Scott, Erin Andrews, Mike Ditka, Bob Knight, and scores of others speak openly about the games, shows, scandals, gambling addictions, bitter rivalries, and sudden suspensions that make up the network's soaring and stormy history. The result is a wild, smart, effervescent story of triumph, genius, ego, and the rise of an empire unlike any television had ever seen.

About the Authors: James Andrew Miller is the author of Running in Place. He has written for The New York Times, Life, Newsweek, and other publications, and was executive producer of two prime-time television series.

Tom Shales is the Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic of The Washington Post, and a movie reviewer for NPR's Morning Edition. His books include On the Air and Legends, and he has written for many major magazines.