Grantland.com (2 Viewers)

[rockaction]

Fox sports does make sense. I forgot they have that awful cable network now.

I'll be surprised if it's Fox. Just doesn't seem like the right fit to me in terms of personalities.

The whole Time Warner conglomerate of networks seems more likely to me (they also own bleacherreport.com and run the nba.com site). You could certainly see him doing NBA on TNT/NBA TV, doing 30 for 30 type docs on CNN or HBO, writing on NBA.com, doing podcasts under the CNN umbrella, etc. (or just starting his own website with their backing).

Sports Illustrated is also Time Warner, but I agree that other Warner properties like TNT, B/R, and HBO are better fits for the Simmons brand. Especially given how Simmons lost his #### when ESPN showed up at SI flagship brand Rick Reilly's house with a dump truck full of money.

I only follow this cursorily, but that couldn't have been a great move. I can't even find Reilly articles on their web site (maybe they wind up in the magazine?), and when I read them, they're absolute rubbish.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2014/03/rick_reilly_retires_why_the_espn_columnist_couldn_t_survive_in_the_era_of.html

Okay, that'll explain it. Thanks. And they were that bad, I guess.

 

[Rick James]

better not drop the Cousin Sal podcasts during football season

 

[Jack White]

better not drop the Cousin Sal podcasts during football season

Just start a new one and call it "The Vegas Zone."

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

better not drop the Cousin Sal podcasts during football season

I wonder how this will work since Sal is a Disney/ABC employee. I hope it goes on but I could see it end, or they get someone else with whom to guess the lines.

 

[Daywalker]

Knew something was up when "Bill Don't Lie" premiered.

 

[jfranco77]

Simmons' deal isn't technically up until September. Could be a few months of awkward fun.

 

[thecatch]

I really enjoyed the early Simmons columns back when he started in 2000. I read him for about 4-5 years (approx) and then when he started doing Jimmy Kimmel, and podcasts and a load of other stuff, I scaled back. I don't goto grantland, I don't listen to his podcast.

He got way too into the NBA and eventually I just checked out.

The guy has made a big name for himself, he'll make millions wherever he goes, but his schtick passed me by years ago.

He's basically NBA-only now so if you aren't a big fan of that sport, I can't imagine why anyone would be a fan.

 

[Brony]

Thought I heard him mention on a recent podcast that he hates reporting to a boss (he's just like us!). I wouldn't surprised if he got some investors to start his own sports media company kind of like Grantland. I would be surprised if he signed with another sports company.

 

[Socrates11]

Good. Big fan. ESPN has become way too corporate and full of themselves. Hopefully where ever Simmons lands he has the freedom to blast the NFL, NBA, etc. He's a founder of the brilliant 30 for 30 docs and I hope they can continue.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Deadspin has word that ESPN completely blindsided Simmons with this, and the people they talked to within Bristol weren't sad to see him go.

 

[roadkill1292]

Good. Big fan. ESPN has become way too corporate and full of themselves. Hopefully where ever Simmons lands he has the freedom to blast the NFL, NBA, etc. He's a founder of the brilliant 30 for 30 docs and I hope they can continue.

Worst of all, ESPN is a partner of many of the sports it covers. They can disclaimer that all they like but it's become a trust issue with me and I've turned elsewhere for sports news.

 

[Brony]

Hope he sticks around if only for the thousands of people sitting idle waiting to hate on the next thing he does. Who will they hate next if Bill isn't around?

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Deadspin has word that ESPN completely blindsided Simmons with this, and the people they talked to within Bristol weren't sad to see him go.

Skipper is coming off here like your friend who had a smoking-hit girlfriend but couldn't take any more of her bull#### and dumped her. Or to extend and strain the analogy further, told a friend he was going to dump her and his friend Tweeted it before he could tell her.

 

[Joe Summer]

Simmons is not going to Bleacher Report. He hates that site.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Simmons is not going to Bleacher Report. He hates that site.

I would imagine that he views BR differently since they've been acquired by Turner. They've brought in a lot of actual writer writers to balance out the "20 Hottest Soccer Player Girlfriend" listicles, they're obviously synergized with the NBA, and they're probably pretty stable.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Deadspin has word that ESPN completely blindsided Simmons with this, and the people they talked to within Bristol weren't sad to see him go.

Skipper is coming off here like your friend who had a smoking-hit girlfriend but couldn't take any more of her bull#### and dumped her.Or to extend and strain the analogy further, told a friend he was going to dump her and his friend Tweeted it before he could tell her.

Or like a mob hit.

 

[Capella]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

It's so good

 

[Tom Servo]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

 

[roadkill1292]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

 

[roadkill1292]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

 

[Capella]

He gave them 30 for 30 and Grantland, but ESPN certainly has the money and infrastructure to keep those things going without Simmons, who at this point doesnt do much but write the occasional mailbag column, record podcasts, and host a basketball TV show that nobody watches.

Kinda sums it up.

 

[Capella]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

I wonder what kind of non-compete he has with Grantland/ESPN - assuming its not too bad, I am sure he could find some financial backers to launch his own site and compete favorably with ESPN.

 

[Tom Servo]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

Awful Announcing.

 

[Capella]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

Awful Announcing.

Yup

 

[njherdfan]

This should be interesting, especially because so many of Grantland's sports writers (for all sports except hockey) rely on proprietary ESPN numbers, which make their articles exponentially better. I wonder what's going to happen with that now.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Most of the criticisms of Simmons are on the money and I don't read his columns regularly any more, but I really do admire what the guy has done.

He has undeniable talent. Whether his talent is as prodigious as he seems to think it is, or whether it is in the areas he thinks it is, is another matter.

It is also undeniable that he has gotten pretty stale. Stuff that was hilarious and different when I read it in one of his columns in 2005 really isn't either 10 years later.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

This should be interesting, especially because so many of Grantland's sports writers (for all sports except hockey) rely on proprietary ESPN numbers, which make their articles exponentially better. I wonder what's going to happen with that now.

Pretty sure ESPN still owns Grantland. So the question isn't whether those writers will have access to that data (they will), but whether they stick around with somebody else in charge. Assuming Simmons was a real editor-in-chief, which he may or may not have been.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

He's good at a lot of things, but I've never found him particularly funny. He appreciates comedy, and I think he gets how jokes work, but I do not think I have ever rolled on the floor laughing my ### off reading him.

 

[Jack White]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

 

[Jack White]

ESPN's report reads like an obituary.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

I'm not sure if he's a "bleeding heart liberal", but I would agree that he didn't take into account the financial risk that the NBA players would incur, just the upside. Or dealing with the logistics, or paying someone to deal with them and having to create an infrastructure. I don't think he's going to risk taking a bath and doing his own thing, I'd heavily wager that he'll end up with Fox or B/R.

 

[Jack White]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

I'm not sure if he's a "bleeding heart liberal", but I would agree that he didn't take into account the financial risk that the NBA players would incur, just the upside. Or dealing with the logistics, or paying someone to deal with them and having to create an infrastructure. I don't think he's going to risk taking a bath and doing his own thing, I'd heavily wager that he'll end up with Fox or B/R.

I agree that he'll go work for another company that can pay him the millions he makes now.

He had even mentioned that starting and building Grantland was not as much fun as he thought it would be. I don't think he has the makeup, desire, or skills to take the risk of creating, owning and running something on his own.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

I'm not sure if he's a "bleeding heart liberal", but I would agree that he didn't take into account the financial risk that the NBA players would incur, just the upside. Or dealing with the logistics, or paying someone to deal with them and having to create an infrastructure. I don't think he's going to risk taking a bath and doing his own thing, I'd heavily wager that he'll end up with Fox or B/R.

I agree, sort of. Really depends on his non-compete.

If he wants to go his own way, I am sure he could find investors in LA to launch his own branded site.

Ultimately, he will end up writing a column for the Boston Globe in a few years, before retiring for good.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

He lives in California, so his non-compete ought not keep him from competing.

 

[Eephus]

Simmons created a monster in Grantland. The pageviews he brought over from Page 2 were essential to getting the site off the ground but his contributions were eclipsed by the work of other Grantland writers. I have no idea if it's profitable but taking Simmons' salary off the balance sheet certainly won't hurt matters.

Simmons' role in the evolution of sports journalism can't be overlooked but he's become trapped in his own schtick. The coverage his dismissal has received is testament to what he's achieved. Wherever he goes next, I'll at least start the articles he writes.

 

[Jack White]

Apparently this was the last straw.

ESPN does not allow people to go on Dan's show without prior permission.

 

[Sammy3469]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

I'm not sure if he's a "bleeding heart liberal", but I would agree that he didn't take into account the financial risk that the NBA players would incur, just the upside. Or dealing with the logistics, or paying someone to deal with them and having to create an infrastructure. I don't think he's going to risk taking a bath and doing his own thing, I'd heavily wager that he'll end up with Fox or B/R.

I think he'll end up someplace else as well, but that's more so he can have access to the NBA and production services rather than risking taking a bath. If he wanted to start his own thing the capital would be there and he would be successful, I just think he'll decide that running type of platform isn't what he really wants as he'd much rather just to be left alone and create content.

He has a super-powerful agent (who just sold to IMG), so it's not like he won't have the backing and/or contacts to do whatever he wants. This Bloomberg article sums the business side up fairly well:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-08/espn-severs-ties-with-grantland-founder-bill-simmons

 

[Capella]

Not sure why we are talking about a non-compete. His contract expires shortly and ESPN can't prevent him from making a living going forward.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Deadspin going with round-the-clock Simmons is gone coverage.

They're having way too much fun with this.

The timing is vicious, even separate from the surprise. Simmons’s contract runs through the end of September. Rather than waiting out the string, Skipper made the announcement today, making it so that Simmons can no longer use ESPN’s offer as a bargaining chip as he enters negotiations with prospective employers. Whether this was Skipper’s intention or not, he’s functionally cost Simmons six or seven figures wherever he lands.

Simmons once suggested during the last NBA labor strike that the best players choose up sides, rent facilities, play a schedule and reap the profits. His theory of talent being the most important commodity might be put to the test very soon. Times may never be better for an established entity to go it alone.

Bleeding heart liberals never seem to understand economics.

I'm not sure if he's a "bleeding heart liberal", but I would agree that he didn't take into account the financial risk that the NBA players would incur, just the upside. Or dealing with the logistics, or paying someone to deal with them and having to create an infrastructure. I don't think he's going to risk taking a bath and doing his own thing, I'd heavily wager that he'll end up with Fox or B/R.

I agree that he'll go work for another company that can pay him the millions he makes now.

He had even mentioned that starting and building Grantland was not as much fun as he thought it would be. I don't think he has the makeup, desire, or skills to take the risk of creating, owning and running something on his own.

That's a shame because I think he's actually more skilled as the visionary for that stuff than as the actual talent. There's no way he can ever recapture the "Everyman" aura that he had when he first started writing. And without that, his writing is largely bland and uninteresting. There were two columns that he wrote at ESPN that I clearly remember and they stand out as being not only very different from every other column he wrote, but being much higher in quality as well.

Grantland is sort of weird to me though in that it's ended in a much different spot than I expected. It started with quite a bit of long form articles on a variety of subjects. I remember really good/quirky stories about a juggler and a singing clown. But now it's almost entirely a bunch of pretentious hipsters and grouches writing regular columns about pop culture, a few regular sports columns and a bunch of bland podcasts. The long form articles and investigative articles are completely gone. The last long form/investigative article I remember was the one where they outed a trans individual and the activists flipped their lid. Overall the site just feels like it is much shallower than what the initial intent was. Who is to blame is the question.

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Not sure why we are talking about a non-compete. His contract expires shortly and ESPN can't prevent him from making a living going forward.

And he lives in California, where enforcement of any non-compete is especially difficult.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I dunno, Grove. I've only been onto Grantland for a couple of years so maybe I missed all of the good stuff. But I really enjoy some of their writers and will miss them if they scatter to outposts unknown.

I don't know if it compares, but they did just run a long article a couple of days ago on the dude who ran the Yankees in the 60s/70s that may be more in line with what you remember.

 

[roadkill1292]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

Awful Announcing.

They're not funny. This may explain much about you two.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

Awful Announcing.

They're not funny. This may explain much about you two.

SB Nation isn't funny?

 

[RedmondLonghorn]

Pretty big media story. Probably good for him too, he's completely stagnant now. I don't even open his columns anymore.

I never did; no loss to me.

Who did you read for sports humor?

Sbnation and deadspin.

Awful Announcing.

They're not funny. This may explain much about you two.

SB Nation isn't funny?

Varies greatly by writer.

I actually think Voxx Media/SB Nation would be a potential destination for Simmons. I imagine some pre-public equity would be attractive to him and he would certainly be a high-profile addition to their platform.\

 

[GroveDiesel]

I don't know if it compares, but they did just run a long article a couple of days ago on the dude who ran the Yankees in the 60s/70s that may be more in line with what you remember.

That sounds like the kind of thing they ran more of back when it first started.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Read that Simmons market value will be in the 5-10M annually as he seeks a new deal.

 

[Old Smiley]

Sad thing is he probably can't talk about it. His next few months podcasts would have been glorious.

Still, it'll be fun to listen for the veiled references.

 

[EYLive]

Is Jalen and Jacoby going to keep putting out podcasts?