Bill Simmons' Contract Won't Be Renewed by ESPN: Latest Details and Reaction

Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons will leave ESPN after the sides were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension, and he will no longer appear on any of the network's platforms.

Continue for updates.

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Simmons Reportedly Won't Appear on Any ESPN Platform

Friday, May 15

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reported Simmons will no longer produce content for any ESPN platform:

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There will be no farewell columns, podcasts or television appearances for Bill Simmons on ESPN.

SI has learned that ESPN and Simmons have worked out an agreement that officially ends his tenure as a front-facing employee for ESPN. Simmons sent an email to Grantland staffers this week informing them that he would no longer be working for the site he founded in 2011. Simmons will also no longer do podcasts or appear on television for ESPN.

An ESPN spokesperson declined comment Friday afternoon when contacted by SI. The Simmons camp has declined all interview requests since last week, including one from SI on Friday. 

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Richard Sandomir of The New York Times passed along word of the decision not to renew Simmons' contract on May 8, from ESPN president John Skipper:

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal provided a full statement from Skipper:

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I decided today that we are not going to renew Bill Simmons' contract. We have been in negotiations and it was clear it was time to move on. 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. We wish Bill continued success as he plans his next chapter. ESPN remains committed to Grantland and we have a strong team in place.

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Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead added more detail as to why Simmons will not be retained:

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It’s difficult to justify paying Bill Simmons $6+ million a year for the revenue he was driving.

And ultimately, that’s what the contract talks boiled down to: Simmons is the most powerful member in sports media, an innovator with the most popular podcast in sports, a vanity website, the “original blogger” who carved out a niche as the Boston Sports Guy and smoothly transitioned to being a creator of the Emmy-award winning 30-for-30 series, but … were any of those ventures generating significant revenue?

The $6 million figure comes from a person with knowledge of the negotiations who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

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Author James Andrew Miller added more, saying that Simmons' "lack of testicular fortitude" comment concerning Roger Goodell was the tipping point.

Miller added more details, noting that Simmons was likely heading out in December, after his suspension. Miller also reported that there were no significant negotiations between the two sides, and that Simmons' camp hadn't given any monetary requests to ESPN.

Simmons rose to prominence with the outlet using the "Sports Guy" moniker, starting in the early 2000s. His influence steadily grew over time as he became involved with the highly successful 30 for 30 series and received the opportunity to start his own offshoot site, Grantland.com, among other contributions.

Now, the question is: Where will he land next?

Deitsch previously examined the potential options for Simmons if a new deal couldn't be reached. The top choice, aside from re-signing with ESPN, was a "Glenn Beck model," which is essentially creating his own media network.

Sirius XM Bleacher Report's Dan Levy joked that the outspoken figure and diehard basketball fan could also explore a different route:

One thing Simmons has effectively done throughout his time at ESPN is seamlessly connect the worlds of pop culture and sports. That's going to give him more crossover appeal and increase the number of potential suitors once he hits the open market.

If he decides to go down the avenue of creating his own media outlet, it would probably be similar to Grantland, just without the ESPN backing.

It's not often a media free agent generates much buzz. Simmons looks like an exception.