http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/06/17/hbo-reportedly-making-a-run-at-bill-simmons/
Good for him. I'm not sold on the number one thing being a Simmons-centered show. 30 for 30 is great. Grantland and all the associated on-line stuff, be it podcast or Youtube shows, were great. But Simmons on the NBA pre/half/post game shows not so much. Obviously, money talks, but I'd bet Simmons could find funding for his own thing at this point. Literally, a whole new network if he wanted... but more likely a online only type thing. It'd be harder, with a longer payout than the millions he'd likely get from HBO... but if Simmons was the principal sweat equity (eg. founder) owner of Grantland, for example, he'd be sitting on something pretty valuable. From a web/digital perspective, I prefer Grantland over ESPN, that's for sure.
The problem is live coverage. He'd need to be able to cover major events as they are happening, not the following day. That's reason enough for him to start his own network, similar to what Glenn Beck has. I'm genuinely surprised that CNN has never considered a nightly sports show. I guess they figure no one can top ESPN, but if Simmons was the host...
Lulz. Simmons is good at what he does and has a cult following but he doesn't have some sort of A-list celebrity personality that draws in the masses. Ultimately nobody knows who he is and he's not all that likeable. I like him but he's not Howard Stern 15 years ago or something.
I wouldn't mind seeing him on Comedy Central for a late night comedy sports show. Maybe I should pitch that idea. Maybe I should be Bill Simmons.
The point of Simmons isn't to draw in the masses - it's to draw in a specific demographic that HBO clearly lacks. For a network that has struggled to gain a footing in the sports world, it's a solid move. I'm not necessarily sold on Simmons as an On Air personality(and even less so on his buddies he shamelessly promotes), but he isn't terrible and if nothing else he says things other sports writers wouldn't dare.
Simmons seems like a control freak who wants freedom that network/cable can't provide. It's pay cable or interwebs.
None of you are old enough to remember CNN's "Sports night," still the greatest sports news show ever?