After the news came out that Undisputed host Skip Bayless will soon part ways with FS1, many in the sports media have weighed in on the topic. Doug Gottlieb was one such host and during his In the Bonus with Doug Gottlieb podcast, he and producer Jason Stewart talked about how it likely went down, why it happened and what might be next for Bayless and for FS1.
“I am not dancing on anybody’s grave,” Gottlieb said. “Now it is fair for me to say, I don’t believe that Skip Bayless is leaving FOX Sports 1 on his own volition. My guess is his contact is not being renewed and that’s more than an educated guess. I don’t know for a fact, but that’s what I believe to be true.”
Gottlieb later added, “Skip’s fine, he’s a senior citizen, he’s made a sh** ton of money, whatever, he’s fine.”
He later added, “There is some good that came from that show. It reinvigorated his career and it really made Stephen A. Smith and it also made the hot take culture, which is not great, and the debate show culture.”
Gottlieb and Stewart talked about the origins of the show which go back to Bayless and Woody Paige before Stephen A. Smith came aboard to as the new debate partner.
“When it hit it was 2010…and if you remember 2010 was the last two years of the real estate crisis where there was massive unemployment…they realized nobody cut their cable…and that show, the debate style of it, fit a younger demo and an African American demo and that’s how the show was built.”
As for Undisputed, Gottlieb said, “They were doing well at FS1, but when they lost Shannon Sharpe that show collapsed. And it’s just really interesting, especially the FOX version of the show once it became Undisputed was all about Skip, but it turns out while Skip set Shannon up for success, Shannon took it and took it to a whole different level.”
Stewart added, “We give Stephen A. Smith a lot of sh** on this show and I think we have been critical of Skip as well, because when you do a show for two hours a day, you have a lot of segments to fill and you tend to talk out of your ass every once in a while. I think we’ve been pretty good at calling them on it but there’s no doubt that both of these guys were trailblazers in this industry.”
Gottlieb brought up what the future looks like for Stephen A. Smith and referenced his ongoing negotiations with ESPN in comparison to what is happening with Bayless. “It is fascinating…here’s Stephen A. and I think he will re-sign with ESPN…for $20 million a year and Skip’s going to be out of a job. That’s crazy.”
