Bill Simmons, who "built a personal empire at ESPN and is one of America’s most influential sports personalities, will leave the media giant when his contract expires" in September, according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. He and the company "were unable to reach an extension after months of talks." ESPN President John Skipper said, "I’ve decided that I’m not going to renew his contract. 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 added the differences between Simmons and ESPN were "about more than money," although he would not offer details. Skipper said that Grantland will "be unaffected" by Simmons' departure. Sandomir notes Simmons' future at ESPN "became a cause célèbre last year when the company suspended him for three weeks for calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a 'liar' during a podcast." Skipper said that the incident "had no bearing on his decision to end ESPN’s relationship with Simmons" (NYTIMES.com, 5/8). Meanwhile, RE/CODE's Peter Kafka reported Simmons "isn't the only one leaving Grantland and ESPN." A source said that Grantland Publisher David Cho, who had been in the position since '11, "gave his notice to ESPN last week" (RECODE.net, 5/8).
DEJA VU: Radio host Dan Patrick said of Simmons, “Sometimes you feel like you outgrow ESPN or that ESPN is the star and you're just part of that. … I saw sort of the cracks in Bill Simmons I saw with Keith Olbermann, that you get to a point where you just say, ‘I'm tired of this. I don’t like this. I've got to do something else. I've got to get out of here’” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 5/8).
TWITTER REAX: SI.com's Richard Deitsch tweeted, "Clear effort on ESPN's part to get ahead of Simmons on the news cycle. Smart by them. Strong move, LaPlaca." Sporting News' Adi Joseph wrote, "Lame Duck Bill Simmons is going to be extremely entertaining. And I'm sure he'll be fine in the long run, maybe even better off." "The Dan Patrick Show" producer Paul Pabst tweeted, "It's now '15 For 15'....Bill takes half. #Simmons." FoxSports.com's Jimmy Traina wrote, "Again, if you're a publishing company & you're not on the phone with Simmons right now offering him a book deal, you're doing your job wrong." GolfDigest.com's Sam Weinman tweeted, "The coverage of @BillSimmons leaving ESPN is over the top. It's a big deal, sure, but it's not like when @LukeKerrDineen left @GolfDigest."
