Bill Simmons discusses his 2007 contract negotiations with ESPN and his decision to stay and pitch new creative projects.
Assertion Contradicted
Bill Simmons: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lied about Ray Rice
“And they did. Though Rice's told them. No, he lied.”
Opinion
Bill Simmons Says Sports Illustrated Completely Fumbled the Digital Era
“Sports Illustrated was the dominant sports magazine. And Sports Illustrated missed it. Like, they completely effed up the internet. A little like how Rolling Stone missed with MTV in the eighties. Sports Illustrated missed with sports in the late nineties, ear…”
Assertion Supported
Simmons: ESPN canceled scheduled 2008 Obama interview over political bias concerns
“ESPN squashed it, and they squashed it for reasons that... I didn't fully understand. ESPN was very worried about... Bias, or... Seeming like they were biased one way or the other, with Democrats, Republicans, whatever it was. And they were just like, well, yo…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
ESPN Undersold Grantland's $8M Podcast Ad Inventory For $750k, Says Bill Simmons
“They sold all of our podcasts advertised in the subway for 750,000 dollars a year. When we had, it was easily six, seven, eight million dollars worth of advertising we could have gotten from the pods at that time.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bill Simmons Was Shocked Spotify Paid $200M For Gimlet's $10M Revenue
“And then they bought Gimlet and they bought Gimlet for like two hundred million dollars. And we were like, wow, Gimlet makes like Ten million dollars a year. They just got two hundred million dollars. Like, what the hell? Like, we were way more profitable than…”
Opinion
Simmons: ESPN was much more political and sinister than Spotify
“I think ESPN was way more political and way more sinister. Spotify's not sinister, but it's also a big company that has a lot of opposing objectives”