Bill Simmons still doesn’t know where his column will land, he said at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit on Wednesday afternoon.
Simmons, who signed on with HBO in July after ESPN opted not to renew his contract, said his new show will launch in the spring. In the meantime, he’s also working on a new show at HBO Sports (which will also be available via the company’s stand-alone streaming service, HBO Now).
It’s a slower pace for Simmons, who spent years keeping Grantland, his Web site, a regular column, podcasts, and near-constant tweeting spinning on the tip of his fingers at the same time. But it’s a welcome one.
“I still have to figure out where I’m going to write and how much I’m going to write,” he said. “The last couple years, I was trying to do too many things. I was able to do them, but when I finally left, it took a couple of months to recover from them. You step away, and you’re just like, Wow, this is great. I’m just going to to go the movies. Not working is really fun.”
It’s probably even more enjoyable after a year of disputes with ESPN, beginning when the network suspended Simmons last September for referring to N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell as a “liar.” In May, ESPN, which has a $15 billion broadcasting deal with Goodell’s football league, said it was cutting him loose when his deal expired.
On Wednesday, Simmons renewed his criticism of his former employer, saying that he “absolutely” believes ESPN avoided overtly criticizing the N.F.L. “The way ESPN has covered the N.F.L. for the last year has been really shaky,” Simmons said. When it comes to coverage of Ray Rice and Goodell, he said, “You didn’t really see it on ESPN. You saw it everywhere else. You start to say, ‘Wait a minute, this is their biggest partner. Are they holding back a little?’”
ESPN isn‘t the only network Simmons accused of going easy on the league, since many of them are competing for the live rights to games. “They’re not going to criticize them because they need the rights.”
Simmons also conceded that Grantland was not profitable. “It was probably like right around even,” Simmons said. “This is probably going to sound like sour grapes, but so much of it has to do with the priorities around how you sell stuff, and we were a boutique site . . . Our issue is that, when you’re a small site, you have to do quick deals. We didn’t make any money off podcasts . . . that was definitely part of the reason I started having issues.”
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Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
