Nostalgia is a powerful drug. It floods the memory with happier times and often can drown out the challenges of the here and now and the work required to grow into the future. Without question, ESPN has leaned into nostalgia. There’s a calling from viewers to mix elements of the past with the present and future. It’s a smart play, and its latest swing for the fences is welcoming back Skip Bayless to First Take.
Like Rich Eisen and the Golic family before him, Bayless is returning to ESPN and his home on First Take every Friday for the upcoming football season. After the program lost both Ryan Clark and Cam Newton to layoffs earlier this year, there were holes to fill in the program’s rotation. Bayless was available, and First Take made the call. Not one they had to make, but one they should have.
Bayless and Smith are the Mike & The Mad Dog of sports television. That’s why it’s sort of fitting that Russo has a presence on a program that mirrors the impact his efforts made in embracing debate on ESPN.
Numbers Don’t Lie
Earlier this year, Bayless made his return to First Take for the first time since departing in 2016. The episode averaged 674,000 viewers, a 24% increase over the program’s weekday average to that point this year (520,800) and 44% higher than the corresponding episode a year earlier.
The episode’s success wasn’t limited to viewership. According to Front Office Sports, Bayless’ return generated more than 33.5 million social impressions, 2.2 million video views and 1.1 million engagements across ESPN’s social platforms.
Again, nostalgia is a powerful drug.
The results spoke volumes. Those who watch ESPN wanted Bayless back across the desk from Smith. Why? Because there’s magic there. Two titans of the sports media industry single-handedly took what sports radio had built over so many years and applied it to a television product. Sure, they borrowed the concept, but they molded it into their own successful model.
But there’s also a challenge in front of Bayless and Smith with this once-a-week reunion: How do they water the garden and keep the content fresh?
Build For Now
If you recall Bayless’ appearance earlier this year, the content overly rehashed old debates that went viral more than a decade ago. It was two “old heads” flapping their gums over war stories from the past instead of engaging in current sports discussion.
That approach cannot happen as Bayless moves into his new rotation with First Take. There’s a difference between Fridays ahead of the college and NFL weekends and a random Friday in early May.
I don’t expect the First Take staff to lean into nostalgia moving forward. It would be foolish to reference Tim Tebow when discussing the top quarterback in college football today. It would be a mistake to rehash G.O.A.T. debates by referencing quarterbacks who play in the NFL today.
Instead, the reunion must challenge both Bayless and Smith to write a second act.
The return in May proved many things. People watched. They shared. They debated. In other words, they did exactly what First Take has always been built to encourage. That has always been First Take’s greatest strength. Viewers tune in because of personalities, chemistry and conversation. Credentials certainly matter, but television chemistry matters even more.
The content is secondary to how the combatants present it. It cannot come with a nod and a wink to the past. Instead, it must focus on how Bayless and Smith can set a new standard for the future.
This isn’t about recreating 2012. That version of First Take already happened. It’s about recognizing what can still work in 2026.
Don’t Waste The Opportunity
ESPN made the right call bringing Skip Bayless back to First Take. The numbers from his first appearance made that clear, and the chemistry remains too valuable to ignore.
The opportunity now is bigger than nostalgia. ESPN has a chance to take the elements that made Bayless and Smith so compelling — the chemistry, the disagreement, the personalities and the ability to make viewers care about a conversation — and build something that feels relevant in 2026.
The second act shouldn’t be a tribute to the first. It should be an evolution of it.
Bayless doesn’t need to be the Skip of 2012. Smith doesn’t need to be the Smith of 2015. First Take doesn’t need to be the First Take we all remember. If ESPN gets that distinction right, Friday mornings can become more than a weekly reunion. They can become the beginning of the next chapter for two personalities who already proved they know how to make sports television matter.
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