Mina Kimes could be on the verge of getting a very big raise. Coming off of Bill Simmons calling her his “number one draft pick for a long time,” Dan Le Batard has made it clear that if Kimes leaves ESPN, The Ringer will have a fight on its hands to sign her.
Ben Strauss of The Washington Post reported this week that Kimes’s contract at ESPN will expire this year. With a big profile that is still on the rise and a diverse set of interests, she will certainly have options.
Bill Simmons’ pitch to Mina Kimes is that The Ringer can offer her a platform to write about non-sports subjects that ESPN cannot. Dan Le Batard took to Twitter to remind Simmons and the world that Meadowlark Media can offer the same thing.
Kimes has noted that she is a fan of Simmons and an admirer of his work, she made an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz earlier this week. Her relationship with Le Batard and his team is strong. Would that give Meadowlark Media an advantage if she were to hit the open market?
All of the speculation could be over nothing. It is hard to imagine ESPN wouldn’t make a major effort to retain Mina Kimes after helping to turn her into one of the industry’s biggest stars over the last eight years.
