Ken Haines, former Virginia Tech Public Affairs Officer and founder of Raycom Sports.
After serving in the US Army, during the Vietnam era, Ken Haines worked in the administration at Virginia Tech during the 1970’s. He was the university’s chief public affairs officer and was the president’s liaison to the athletic department. He did color commentary on the Virginia Tech Radio Network and was instrumental in the transfer of the Virginia Western public radio station to Virginia Tech – WVTF.
In 1980 Ken and his wife Stephanie moved to Charlotte, NC to help start Raycom Sports, a regional television network of syndicated television stations broadcasting ACC basketball games. The company grew rapidly and was very successful. At one point, Raycom was producing nearly 500 games per year including basketball and football games of the ACC, Big Ten, Pac 10, Big Eight, Southwest Conference and Metro Conference. As president and CEO of Raycom Sports, the company also founded basketball tournaments and college bowl games including the Blockbuster Bowl and the Continental Tire Bowl, now know as the Duke Mayo Bowl. The company started the careers of many national sports announcers.
With the purchase of Jefferson Pilot Sports the company also added the Southeast Conference to its portfolio and operated a number of LPGA golf tournaments. In 2015 Ken retired and the company was sold to ESPN. Raycom Sports still produces a number of games and sports features for ESPN and the CW network.