1998: The Year Of MJ’s ‘Last Dance,’ ESPN was innovating and forecasting

The Last Dance concludes with Episodes 9 and 10 airing Sunday, May 17 beginning at 9 ET on ESPN (TV-MA) and ESPN2 (TV-14-L).

The documentary series covers Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ quest for a sixth NBA Championship in 1998, the season that Coach Phil Jackson referred to as “The Last Dance.”

In the spirit of 1998, The Undefeated takes fans back to that year with the newly launched website “The Culture.”

Here’s what else ESPN was up to in 1998:

Jan. 15, 1998: ESPN and ABC Sports announce agreement for exclusive and complete coverage of soccer’s Women’s World Cup ’99 to be held in the U.S.

Feb. 27: ESPN debuts SkyCam (NHL, Florida at Detroit)

March 23: ESPN The Magazine debuts.

March 31: Debut of ESPN Radio’s MLB coverage (Cleveland at Seattle). Charlie Steiner and Kevin Kennedy provided the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. Three eventual Baseball Hall Of Famers played for Seattle in the game: Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson.

Ken Griffey (Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners)

Randy Johnson (Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners)

Edgar Martinez (Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners)

The old Seattle Kingdome was home to ESPN Radio's MLB debut game. (Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners)

Summer: ESPN/ESPN2/ABC Sports provides exclusive and complete coverage of the 1998 World Cup Soccer Tournament.

Sept. 7: ESPN’s Cubs vs. Cardinals game (Mark McGwire’s record-tying 61st home run) had an average audience of 10,610,000 viewers, still ESPN’s most-watched MLB regular-season game ever. (Catch ESPN’s upcoming 30 for 30 on the subject, “Long Gone Summer”)

Sammy Sosa (Scott Clarke/ESPN Images)

Mark McGwire (Scott Clarke/ESPN Images)

Sept. 27: ESPN debuts “1st and Ten” yellow line on the Cincinnati at Baltimore NFL telecast.