TV Sports Execs Form Net Venture

The founders of Classic Sports Network, the sports channel sold to ESPN for $175 million in 1997, are jumping into cyberspace. Brian T. Bedol and Stephen D. Greenberg have formed Fusient Media Ventures in New York as an incubator for entrepreneurs developing content for the Internet. Tom Lassally, former executive vice president of Warner Bros. and also a founder of Fusient, will be president of West Coast operations. Fusient has raised $30 million from investors, including Redpoint Ventures, Allen & Co. and Waterview Partners. Among its founders’ early investments is Broadband Sports, which is headed by former Disney executive Richard Nanula.