Bill Simmons and ESPN to Part Ways

[stretch]

Bill Simmons bashed Roger Goodell one day before ESPN announced his departure.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/bill...ick-liar-video

[ezz_bee]

That's kind of crappy. Grantland is really good. Hopefully he just creates his own thing, I'm sure lots of talented people will join him.

[Dino4life]

I just Hope Zach Low, Yacobi & Jallen rose called him up to say "Where are we going next Boss ?"
ESPN would shit their pants.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Oh forsure I'm not even worried about Simmons columns, I'm just wondering, doesn't he joint own Grantland or something?

I think he does but I believe ESPN owns the rights to the grantland name... they do have jalen and jacoby still.... and zach lowe and goldsberry graphical analysis.

[Shantz]

I'm trying to put a Raptors spin on this. Two ideas that make me smile:

1) MLSE is still looking for Tim Leiweke's replacement. If Bill struggled with the bosses at ESPN it would be downright comical to see him deal with the Rogers/Bell issues.

2) Pay the man whatever he wants to replace Jack and Leo. Just don't let him work any Boston games.

Neither thought is at all a real suggestion, but both make me chuckle a little to myself.

[drunkmunky]

I think the question on every nba junkies mind is: how does this effect grantland?

for the better. His commentary was always useless and about Boston. Go home Bill Simmons.

[Bonus Jonas]

Pay the man whatever he wants to replace Jack and Leo. Just don't let him work any Boston games.

Yessssss pleeeaaaaaseeeeee

[guyroch]

ESPN's ego is way bigger then Bill Simmons ... Think about 6 million dollars in the whole scheme of things ... That is pennies in the ESPN budget .. This is like Reinsdorf hating Jackson for getting to much credit for Bulls success or Jerry Jones
Not wanting Jimmy Johnson to get too much credit .. ESPN always wants his employees to remember they made you and you can be replaced ..

[slaw]

I'm thinking Fox or TNT would allow him to do whatever he wants just to get him on board and increase their relevancy.

No employer ever "allows you to do whatever you want".

Simmons has obviously worked hard at creating a pretty successful brand, so he seems like the kind of guy, who in this media age, could go out on his own and make way more money than he ever could working at any traditional network. He would actually be the perfect guy to try to do in the sports realm what Glenn Beck did with The Blaze stuff. I don't know if he's saavy as a business man, though.

[magoon]

A couple points.

1. Grantland's publisher, David Cho, resigned last week. He was part of the original Grantland concept team; his departure, in conjunction with Simmons, speaks to the idea that Simmons is probably planning to "bring the band back together" wherever he ends up.

2. Simmons' value isn't in his columns, which have been on a downhill roll for years now. His value is that he's become really, really good at editing a news/commentary site. Grantland is a good site because Simmons found a large number of talented writers and more or less let them do what they wanted to do (while simultaneously refining their work to make it more widely acceptable to the broader audience). People who don't work in journalism don't realize how crucial a good editorial team is to the process and Simmons was a key part of that. I suspect a lot of Grantland's current team will migrate to New Simmons Site wherever it ends up being, because he'll promise the rare combination of money and journalistic freedom that ESPN clearly won't.

[The_Warlord]

I bet he's working on getting the Kings GM job from Vivek..

[Primer]

No employer ever "allows you to do whatever you want".

Simmons has obviously worked hard at creating a pretty successful brand, so he seems like the kind of guy, who in this media age, could go out on his own and make way more money than he ever could working at any traditional network. He would actually be the perfect guy to try to do in the sports realm what Glenn Beck did with The Blaze stuff. I don't know if he's saavy as a business man, though.

I'm not sure if these guys can go completely solo and make the big bucks. Even Dan Patrick has a contract with NBC. Simmons is pretty good on tv, which is why I can see the ESPN competitors giving him more money and freedom to add a big recognizable name to their content.

[stretch]

A couple points.

1. Grantland's publisher, David Cho, resigned last week. He was part of the original Grantland concept team; his departure, in conjunction with Simmons, speaks to the idea that Simmons is probably planning to "bring the band back together" wherever he ends up.

2. Simmons' value isn't in his columns, which have been on a downhill roll for years now. His value is that he's become really, really good at editing a news/commentary site. Grantland is a good site because Simmons found a large number of talented writers and more or less let them do what they wanted to do (while simultaneously refining their work to make it more widely acceptable to the broader audience). People who don't work in journalism don't realize how crucial a good editorial team is to the process and Simmons was a key part of that. I suspect a lot of Grantland's current team will migrate to New Simmons Site wherever it ends up being, because he'll promise the rare combination of money and journalistic freedom that ESPN clearly won't.

Is there another sports website that is a viable alternative to ESPN? ...that has the resources to do the comprehensive sports coverage (for me NCAA basketball is tops) in a thorough and immediate fashion plus all those great documentaries plus all the topical and political articles that are so compelling from Grantland and fivethirtyeight?

I'm not happy with Simmons being dumped and looking for an alternative.

[magoon]

Is there another sports website that is a viable alternative to ESPN? ...that has the resources to do the comprehensive sports coverage (for me NCAA basketball is tops) in a thorough and immediate fashion plus all those great documentaries plus all the topical and political articles that are so compelling from Grantland and fivethirtyeight?

I'm not happy with Simmons being dumped and looking for an alternative.

Fox Sports and NBC, at a minimum, will be falling over themselves to offer Simmons a wheelbarrow full of money.

[EverythingBlaxx]

I can see Yahoo in his future. I think Marissa Mayer, in her everlasting quest to turn Yahoo around, will give him the creative license and freedom he is looking for along with the dollars. Adding him to a team that includes Woj, Marc Spears and all the people behind Ball Don't Lie makes almost too much sense.

Plus if anyone is going to figure out how to truly monetize podcasts beyond Subway and SquareSpace ads, it's probably going to be Bill Simmons.