ESPN Severs Ties With Grantland Founder Bill Simmons
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 7:32 am    Post subject: ESPN Severs Ties With Grantland Founder Bill Simmons

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Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN won’t renew the contract of sports columnist Bill Simmons, ending its relationship with the popular writer and commentator who founded the website Grantland.

“I decided today that we are not going to renew Bill Simmons’ contract,” ESPN president John Skipper said in a statement. “We have been in negotiations and it was clear it was time to move on.”

ESPN remains committed to Grantland, Skipper said.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-08/espn-severs-ties-with-grantland-founder-bill-simmons
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ocho
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:00 am    Post subject:

So Grantland continues without Bill?

You could see the divorce coming for years now. I think Bill is going to go independent.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:05 am    Post subject:

He had too many battles with the mothership, and I believe his paycheck was not commensurate with what he was generating in terms of revenue.

I agree, he'll probably go independent as SI tends to be lower budget and probably still risk averse (at least they were back in the day when I was a management consultant).
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ocho
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:22 am    Post subject:

Simmons is in a tough spot. He has spent 5 years building his dream site and now it's gone, presumably along with his favorite writers.
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activeverb
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:29 am    Post subject:

ocho wrote:
Simmons is in a tough spot. He has spent 5 years building his dream site and now it's gone, presumably along with his favorite writers.



Not really. Simmons has built himself into a personal brand. He has plenty of options. Plenty of people will want to hire him. Or he could get investors to start a new site.
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LuciusAllen
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 8:37 am    Post subject:

activeverb wrote:
ocho wrote:
Simmons is in a tough spot. He has spent 5 years building his dream site and now it's gone, presumably along with his favorite writers.



Not really. Simmons has built himself into a personal brand. He has plenty of options. Plenty of people will want to hire him. Or he could get investors to start a new site.

Agreed -- he has a style and a brand. He's gonna do just fine. Worst case, he can be the color commentator for the Celtics.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:27 am    Post subject:

ocho wrote:
So Grantland continues without Bill?

You could see the divorce coming for years now. I think Bill is going to go independent.


Yeah what happens to Grantland now?
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:44 am    Post subject:

Good. He can write for Forum Blue and Gold now.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:48 am    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
Good. He can write for Forum Blue and Gold now.



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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:52 am    Post subject:

22 wrote:
ocho wrote:
So Grantland continues without Bill?

You could see the divorce coming for years now. I think Bill is going to go independent.


Yeah what happens to Grantland now?




Grantland remains the property of ESPN. The question is whether BS has enough pull with the staff that he presumably recruited to (later) leave Grantland and follow him to a competitive site. Sports journalists aren't paid all that well, and if you leave ESPN there's no guarantee that you'll thrive. Chris Sheridan doesn't have BS' brand equity, but he can serve as a cautionary tale to the other writers who contemplate leaving ESPN.


Last edited by angrypuppy on Fri May 08, 2015 10:07 am; edited 1 time in total
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:55 am    Post subject:

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Skipper said Grantland will continue to publish.

"ESPN's relationship with Bill has been mutually beneficial -- he has produced great content for us for many years and ESPN has provided him many new opportunities to spread his wings," Skipper said. "We wish Bill continued success as he plans his next chapter. ESPN remains committed to Grantland and we have a strong team in place."



http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12846295/espn-says-renew-bill-simmons-contract
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:57 am    Post subject:

I actually like BS's stuff. Yes, his Celtics homerism is annoying, but at least he's open about it unlike other writers who claim to be "neutral."
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 10:07 am    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
I actually like BS's stuff. Yes, his Celtics homerism is annoying, but at least he's open about it unlike other writers who claim to be "neutral."
I enjoy his work. I think he is an excellent writer.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 10:09 am    Post subject:

I like BS too. And I agree, he is honest about being a homer which is in fact part of his schtick.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:31 am    Post subject:

ocho wrote:
Simmons is in a tough spot. He has spent 5 years building his dream site and now it's gone, presumably along with his favorite writers.


I think this was always his goal. Build his peronal brand and either get paid by ESPN or somewhere else. The Grantland name means nothing.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:33 am    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:
22 wrote:
ocho wrote:
So Grantland continues without Bill?

You could see the divorce coming for years now. I think Bill is going to go independent.


Yeah what happens to Grantland now?




Grantland remains the property of ESPN. The question is whether BS has enough pull with the staff that he presumably recruited to (later) leave Grantland and follow him to a competitive site. Sports journalists aren't paid all that well, and if you leave ESPN there's no guarantee that you'll thrive. Chris Sheridan doesn't have BS' brand equity, but he can serve as a cautionary tale to the other writers who contemplate leaving ESPN.


Thanks.

As much as I can't stand BS, I think Grantland will fail without him.

He should do his own thing and not get mixed up with some huge company unless they give him full creative control.

Grantland was my second fav for sports articles. Players' tribune sits atop the list for me
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32
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:58 am    Post subject:

Good riddance.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 12:07 pm    Post subject:

I'm sure Simmons will have a 10,000 word, 17 page article out about this any day now.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 12:08 pm    Post subject:

Bill Simmons Found out he was fired on Twitter

Deadspin: Why ESPN fired Bill Simmons

Even though I believed this would eventually happen, it looks like it was more a sudden firing than an agree-to-disagree and mutually part ways thing. He'll land on his feet, though. He is his own brand with a loyal following and he'll get paid to continue doing what he's done for the last 15-20 years.

As for ESPN, after the horrible redesign of their website, I don't even bother with it any longer. And I stopped watching their network ages ago, only making exceptions for playoffs or the Superbowl.
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 12:36 pm    Post subject:

32 wrote:
Good riddance.


Why? I think he's great at what he did. His podcasts were awesome and Grantland is a great website.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 1:28 pm    Post subject:

I want to hear what Larry Coon has to say about this
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 1:39 pm    Post subject:

I'm disappointed. I love Grantland and no way it will be the same without Simmons.

I guarantee you Fox Sports will throw a boat load of cash at him though.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 1:46 pm    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
32 wrote:
Good riddance.


Why? I think he's great at what he did. His podcasts were awesome and Grantland is a great website.


Honestly, I think Bill Simmons jumped the shark when be became a talking head on the ESPN NBA halftime show, and when he tried to launch the E-60 thing. He got exposed as a lightweight when it comes to serious analysis. He brought some great ideas to ESPN, such as 30 for 30. However, he hit his ceiling.

Of late, he does an occasional mailbag, the podcasts, and his Grantland Hour show, which is blah. He brought a different style to sports commentary, but now there are a bunch of people doing the same thing, and many of them are better. Apparently, he is a pain in the neck to deal with.

I figure he'll go independent or maybe join Fox (which is desperate to compete with ESPN after Fox Sports One flopped). He'll do fine. He'll snipe at ESPN, and his loyal fans will stick with him. He'll never have the same level of relevance, though. Much as some people hate it, ESPN is the only platform in sports media that really matters. The other outlets don't have the funding to support ambitious projects like Grantland or 30 for 30.

The obvious analogies are Keith Olbermann and Chris Sheridan. He'll do better than that. The success of Adrian Woj is a better model. However, Woj has the drawing card of being a great source of breaking news. Simmons is just a personality.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 2:00 pm    Post subject:

22 wrote:
I want to hear what Larry Coon has to say about this


Larry says you should do your own thinking, and then he can just tell you why it is wrong.
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PostPosted: Fri May 08, 2015 2:29 pm    Post subject:

22 wrote:
I want to hear what Larry Coon has to say about this

LarryCoon wrote:
Simmons was a greedy tool. I love all Boston teams, especially the Celtics, the greatest NBA franchise in history. (bleep) LA and especially (bleep) the Lakers. Thr SEC is the greatest conference in college football. All West Coast teams belong in Div III. The new site redesign is amazing and inspired.

Edited by ESPN for compliance

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