Bill Simmons discusses his 2014 podcast comments about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Ray Rice domestic violence controversy that led to his suspension from ESPN.
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”
Insight
Simmons: Attributing career success to luck is a 'loser attitude'
“I think when people talk about luck, it almost feels like it's kind of like a loser attitude where it's like, oh, that was lucky. It's like, I don't feel like there's a lot of luck with this stuff. Opportunity can be luck, but you still have to like nail the o…”