October 11, 2024

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Front Office Sports

Skip Bayless had a good thing going.

He was making great money as the host of Undisputed on FS1 and had established himself as the rare ESPN personality to sustain success elsewhere. His new show was even occasionally competitive with his old one. But in the summer of 2023, it all went wrong. Bayless antagonized his popular cohost, Shannon Sharpe, leading him to exit the show. He then played a new role when the program relaunched with new panelists. It didn’t work, and the 72-year-old is now on his own.

Bayless denies responsibility for Sharpe’s departure and the fall of Undisputed. We go through how things fell apart and why he’s wrong.

—Michael McCarthy

McCarthy: Skip Bayless Is Delusional About Shannon Sharpe Divorce

Fox Sports

Skip Bayless will not go gentle into that good night. 

After being pushed out of Fox Sports this summer, Bayless sounded delusional at times during an interview with Ben Strauss of The Washington Post. Still, the 72-year-old sports TV legend is eyeing a comeback, with new projects ranging from a book to a screenplay and, of course, a new debate show. 

Let’s start with the delusion. Bayless told Strauss it “dumbfounds” him that former Undisputed sparring Shannon Sharpe felt disrespected. Or that Bayless had nothing to do with forcing Sharpe off the show in 2023. Nice try, Skip. But you can’t rewrite history. During their seven years together, sources tell me Bayless made it clear to Fox management in Los Angeles that he was Batman to Sharpe’s Robin. 

Bayless, who earned approximately $8 million per year on his final Fox contract, made roughly double the salary of his costar. He called the shots on the show. The unequal relationship between Bayless and Sharpe deteriorated to the point where they nearly came to blows on-air. During their fiercest argument, an imperious Bayless ordered Sharpe to put his glasses back on—sounding like a principal scolding an unruly student. No disrespect there, right, Skip?

But the wily Bayless didn’t rise from local newspaper columnist to national TV star by accident. I think Bayless correctly analyzed why and how Undisputed went from would-be First Take competitor to TV roadkill—and how he ended up on the curb of Pico Boulevard.

Where Things Went Wrong

Fox blew it by siding with him instead of Sharpe. The network backed the wrong horse at a time when Sharpe was ascending in popularity and Bayless was fading. Now Sharpe is one of the biggest stars in sports media, hosting the Club Shay Shay podcast, starring on First Take, and possibly taking over if Stephen A. Smith leaves. My sources tell me Bayless genuinely blames Fox for not settling the dispute between him and Sharpe. Hence his claim to be “shocked” they didn’t fight to keep the pair together.  

Bayless is also right in saying it was a big mistake for Undisputed to go dark for two months following Sharpe’s exit. Don’t mess with the viewing habits of morning TV viewers. That decision pushed many of them to Smith’s First Take and they never came back. When Smith recruited Sharpe to join him this year, it was game, set, match.

Bayless is also correct it was a foolish strategy to make him the moderator on the revamped Undisputed. That head-scratching move effectively made Bayless a supporting player on his own show. Nobody wants a kinder, gentler Bayless, facilitating a discussion. He’s best as a bomb-thrower, the enfant terrible of morning TV firing off outrageous hot takes. 

Still, Bayless is not lying down. He’s scheduled to appear on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take today. He appears to be launching a media tour to repair his rep (His wife, Ernestine Sclafani Bayless, is a respected PR pro). To paraphrase Dylan Thomas, the godfather of “embrace debate” plans to rage against the dying of the light. But is his audience gone for good? We’ll find out.

The canceled Undisputed was replaced by The Facility, which premiered Sept. 3. Above, you can see how video views on YouTube have tracked for the channel since its heyday when Sharpe was on the show, the substantial dip they took during the show’s hiatus, a spike with the new cast, then a drop-off to approximately half of the peak metrics. The views dropped off a cliff as Undisputed went off the air, and a new cast, led by Emmanuel Acho, is trying to rebuild within that time slot under a new name and identity.

Ohio State–Oregon Broadcasters Ready for ‘Excitement’ of New Rivalry

NBC Sports

Analyst Todd Blackledge of NBC Sports tells me he’s had Saturday night’s Ohio State–Oregon matchup circled on his calendar for a long time. 

He can’t wait to call the Big Ten Saturday Night matchup between the No. 2 Buckeyes and No. 3 Ducks, with play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle and sideline reporters Kathryn Tappen and Paul Burmeister. 

It will be NBC’s first matchup of top-three regular-season teams since its broadcast of No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Notre Dame in 1993 (Those Seminoles went on to win the national championship). The matchup of the two undefeated programs is easily the network’s biggest game since picking up Big Ten rights last season.

Now in its second season, Blackledge is pleased with the progress made by the Big Ten Saturday Night team. “I thought last year was a really good first year. I think our crew is even better this year. Everybody kind of has a feel for each other. Our productions have been better.” The addition of West Coast teams from the old Pac-12 has brought new “excitement” to the league’s telecasts, he adds. 

“There’s just some really interesting matchups. We did Washington-Michigan last week, which was a rematch of the national championship game. Now it’s a regular-season Big Ten game,” Blackledge says. “Then we have this game coming up this weekend. It’s a great national matchup—but it’s also a conference game.”

Was Blackledge as shocked as everybody else by Vanderbilt’s upset of Alabama? The former ABC and CBS broadcaster just chuckles. 

“It just seems like every year in college football there’s a week where just crazy stuff happens. I think as big as the sport is, and it’s now even bigger with the economics of NIL and the transfer portal, you’re still dealing with a lot of 18- to 22-year-old kids that are playing the game. You just never know exactly what you’re going to get,” Blackledge says. “That’s why you see these kinds of chaotic things happen in the sport that you maybe don’t see in other places. That’s why you always have to be ready to play every week. You just never know what’s going to happen.”

Cam Newton Joins ‘First Take,’ Where His Opinions Should Fit Right In

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Cam Newton’s transformation from washed-up NFL quarterback to hot-take-spewing embrace-debate artist is complete.

As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, ESPN has hired the 2015 NFL MVP as a contributor to Stephen A. Smith’s First Take.

It looks to me like a great career move for the former Panthers and Patriots quarterback. Newton floundered for a while after his 11-year NFL career came to an end. Footage of Newton, brawling with multiple men while wearing a comically large hat at a youth football tournament, went viral earlier this year.

But Newton has remade himself as an interesting media personality via his 4th&1 and Funky Friday podcasts. With his strong opinions, outsized personality, and flamboyant fashion sense, he should fit right in with Smith’s rotating cast of guest debaters on First Take, including Shannon Sharpe, Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky, and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

The 2011 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion at Auburn is scheduled to debut Friday during First Take’s HBCU roadshow at Tennessee State University. Newton’s hire also deepens First Take’s bench should Smith leave ESPN for late-night TV, news, or Hollywood. 

“I’ve always brought passion and energy into everything I do, and that won’t change at ESPN. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share my perspective and go toe-to-toe with the best in the business,” Newton said in a statement. “Fans can expect the same intensity I brought to the field, along with real talk, bold takes, and good fun.”

David Roberts, ESPN’s EVP of sports news and entertainment, had this to say about Newton: “His dynamic charisma, combined with the high-profile debates alongside Stephen A. Smith, will create compelling, must-watch television for fans.”

Mike Drops

New Beginnings and First Impressions

Inside Hook

  • During a time when many media outlets seem to be closing or slashing staff, I got a great reaction to our scoop that college hoops maven Seth Davis is launching his own digital site dubbed Hoops HQ on Oct. 28. “Wishing you the great success you’re no doubt expecting,” tweeted ex-ESPNer Ed Werder. But another reader second-guessed Davis’s decision to put the start-up behind a paywall. “You think he’d learn from The Athletic that sports articles behind a paywall isn’t a very good business model,” he tweeted.
  • Vinsanity is back on TV. TNT Sports is hiring former ESPNer Vince Carter for its NBA coverage this season, and the 2024 Basketball Hall of Famer will join its Tuesday night studio team. ESPN laid off the former NBA star as part of its corporate downsizing in 2023.
  • With Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers fighting to stay alive in the MLB playoffs, Fox should garner huge ratings for Friday night’s Game 5 between the Dodgers and Padres. Meanwhile, how great was WFAN announcer Howie Rose’s call of Mets star Francisco Lindor’s game-winning grand slam against the Phillies? “They were famished for the big hit all night—and Francisco Lindor just provided a feast!” Chef’s kiss, Howie.
  • I thought Shams Charania was impressive in his ESPN TV debut Thursday. He sped through the proverbial “carwash,” appearing on Get Up, First Take, and The Pat McAfee Show. He was nervous at times, but I think the 30-year-old insider will ultimately be more comfortable on the air than his one-time mentor and legendary predecessor, Adrian Wojnarowski.
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Written by Michael McCarthy
Edited by Or Moyal, Catherine Chen

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