The NFL does control scheduling, though. They could increase the number of crap games ESPN gets. It might seem like cutting off their nose to spite their face, but given how stupid the NFL has been demonstrated to be...
ESPN already seems to get the worst games. Or they did before CBS showed up on Thurs. NBC clearly has the best deal because of viewership.
NBC has the best games ever since the NFL switched their main primetime night from Monday night to Sunday night and stopped showing games on ABC (moved to ESPN). Before then, ESPN had Sunday night games that were similar to their current Monday night matchups.
It's a don't-rock-the-boat mentality, at least with persons you rely on for your business. Kinda like the way 610 and 790 have treated Rockets' personnel over the years. When the Rockets are broadcast by Station 1 and not Station 2, Station 1 is the slow-softball-pitch, don't-offend'em, corporate suckups. And Station 2 is free in their grousing about "McHale can't coach, Morey really blew it my God" etc. Right now Goodell is under fire but until TMZ releases shows a video showing Goodell backhanding his wife unconscious on an elevator---or rather, shows him watching the TMZ video of Ray Rice proving to the world that his wife didn't wind up unconscious due to some undiagnosed narcoleptic condition---then, well, ole Roger's "innocent". Which is to say, call Goodell incompetent, which you can prove, and which he would prefer. Don't call him a liar guilty of a coverup, which you can't prove. Because the NFL is ESPN's bread and butter.
I'm sure it would be difficult to take the whole bandwagon with them, but Lowe and Barnwell can easily be bankrolled by VICE. VICE has plenty of money as you alluded to, and taking Simmons, Barnwell, and Lowe pretty much guarantees you're buying a loyal fanbase. Simmons fans are like Howard Stern fans, they'll be with him to the end. HBO and VICE already work together for producing a show, so if it were podcasts & articles under VICE, and 30 for 30 + all other sports content on HBO, I think Simmons could absolutely make it work, and for roughly the same amount of money. Remember, HBO has done this successfully already, stealing the ever controversial Bill Maher, and now John Oliver. Maher averages 4 million viewers per week on his show. Oliver averages 4.1 million viewers per week on his show. Simmons could definitely get into those figures, especially given he probably wouldn't be doing a weekly show but maybe monthly show of sorts. Simmons is tailor made for HBO, and HBO is consistently putting talent and creativity as the #1 factor in their decision making. Simmons has proved this for sure.
The ironic thing is that ESPN's Outside the Lines report did provide rather strong details on a coverup.
HBO would be an interesting suitor, too. They've got the money and the freedom that nobody else could give Simmons. The question is how loyal is he to his people? There are some talented writers at Grantland who are a notch below Lowe and Barnwell that Simmons may not want to abandon. Somebody in the /r/nba thread about this said "If I'm at Turner, I'm immediately calling Simmons' agent and telling him I'll double his pay and Grantland's budget if you come here. We'll give you a slot on Inside the NBA and your own weekly show, too." That's an interesting idea and would allow Simmons to keep the NBA connections he's cultivated over the years.
Maybe the guy who suspended Simmons should take over for Goodell because that guy is obviously really good at suspensions.
ESPN owns Grantland, and I'd be shocked if there wasn't a clause preventing him going to a competing network for a period of time.
I'm fully aware of that. Whatever clause he may have with the contract, I'm sure a competitor would be willing to wait it out. Somebody made the point that his audience is like Howard Stern's and will likely follow him anywhere.
You can probably go to any stadium in america and find a fan to replace the simmons niche. Rice actually has talent :grin:
I can't help but wonder if this whole episode was done just to get people talking about ESPN. As in, Bill discussed this with higher-ups at ESPN before begging for a suspension on-air. It helps Bill maintain his "man of the people" status and gets a lot of people talking about ESPN. Win-win.
So, no guess the lines podcast for a few weeks? I don't like it. Bill needs to get Zach Lowe to do some extra Lowe Post podcasts to fill the void.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The Bill Simmons suspension ends Oct. 15. His new Grantland basketball show debuts Oct. 21 on ESPN. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mulderandscully?src=hash">#mulderandscully</a></p>— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) <a href="https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/515259352585105408">September 25, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yeah...as much as people claim to hate ESPN, it's not like the same people leave or boycott in droves. Monopoly power, b****es. Simmons, OTOH, has been granted more and more autonomy and creative freedom to produce content and receive credit through his branding rather than ESPN/Disney's. I seriously doubt he's going anywhere. This incident will be used and exploited, like he's always done during his neurotic and successful quest for self-aggrandizing himself with sports fandom. He's in the most best possible situation right now. Leaving ESPN over this is short sighted and reeks of high maintenance diva instability. Wise man once told me, you don't leave to run away from a bad situation. You leave to run towards a good one.
Simmons isn't for everyone, but he certainly is difficult to replicate. The reasons his podcasts I find interesting, for one he keeps it real with the celebrity guests/athletes he has on, and the conversation (with some exceptions of course) is usually very interesting. Number two, his regular guests, are quite entertaining in their own right. Only thing I dislike are the stupid voices he and Cousin Sal do, but otherwise, he has entertaining enough friends that come on. And, there is nothing better out there to listen to than when Klosterman or Malcolm Gladwell are on his podcast, nothing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>SBD: Bill Simmons' three-week suspension from ESPN is unpaid. How it all went down: <a href="http://t.co/DcI6gGwjUj">http://t.co/DcI6gGwjUj</a></p>— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/status/515489840406999040">September 26, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
