Report: Bill Simmons is Leaving ESPN

After a tumultuous, 15 year relationship. Bill Simmons and ESPN are parting ways. Rich Sandomir of the New York Times broke the news on Twitter, revealing that Simmons and ESPN were unable to come to terms on a contract extension:

BIll SImmons to leave ESPN, according to ESPN president John Skipper. "We weren't going to get to the terms," said Skipper.
— Richard Sandomir (@RichSandomir) May 8, 2015

John Skipper, president of ESPN, hinted in the full New York Times article that the while monetary differences were the root of the split, the two sides’ contentious relationship undoubtedly played a role in Simmons’ departure.

"“I’ve decided that I’m not going to renew his contract,” said John Skipper, the president of ESPN. “We’ve been talking to Bill and his agent and it was clear we weren’t going to get to the terms so we were better off focusing on transition.”Skipper said that the differences between the company and Simmons were “about more than money,” although he would not offer details. He added: “We’ve had an excellent run with Bill, almost 15 years. It’s been good for us and good for him. It was a decision I had to make and he had to make to move forward.”"

During his tenure at ESPN, Simmons developed into a remarkably influential and popular sports personality. Simmons was the founder and editor-in-chief of Grantland.com, ESPN’s very popular sports and pop culture site. Grantland.com is very highly regarded and helped broaden and galvanize ESPN’s coverage by branching out into film, TV, music and pop culture while introducing a number of talented and popular writers such as Zach Lowe. According to Skipper, Grantland will remain unaffected by Simmons’ departure.

Simmons also frequently appeared on ESPN’s TV programming, including The Grantland Basketball Hour, NBA Countdown, and the network’s NBA draft coverage. He also played a role in the launch of ESPN’s 30 for 30 film series, and his popular B.S Report podcast became one of the most popular podcasts on the internet.

Simmons and ESPN frequently clashed throughout their years-long relationship. At times, Simmons vocally questioned ESPN’s support of Grantland, and he was punished for his outspoken views on more than one occasion. In 2008, Simmons and ESPN entered a dispute over creative freedom and censorship regarding his column. He was twice suspended from Twitter; once in 2008 for tweets critical of the Boston radio show WEEI’s The Big Show, and again in 2013 for tweets critical of ESPN’s First Take. In September 2014, ESPN suspended Simmons for three weeks for criticizing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case.

Despite their differences, Simmons is a huge loss for ESPN. Regardless of your opinion of his writing style, he was undoubtedly a pioneer and he opened a lot of doors for prospective sports writers and bloggers. It will be very interesting to see where he goes from here, and whether he takes any Grantland writers with him, as a number of media companies will be vying for his services and the attention he would bring. Whether he joins an entity like Sports Illustrated, Turner, Yahoo, Viacom, Vox or decides to do his own thing and go independent, his next move could have a sizeable impact on the landscape of sports journalism.

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