There's been a lot of discussion about NBA ratings this season. Given my background in sports media, I discuss why this is misguided and that the NBA is actually in excellent shape. We discuss the new TV rights deal, how the media partners make money, what variables will be needed to judge the new deal, and the advantages that the NBA brings to NBC…

Welcome to Episode 104! We bring on Mike (@SpringerProject) from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We start off discussing Bill Simmons current events, with Mike actually defending the Termine & Eddie Johnson pod - wait, what?? Then we get into Mike's time at ESPN and discuss the formation of and disintegration of Grantland - this is must listen …

Welcome to Episode 103! We bring on previous guests Mike (Episode 73) and Chanch (Episode 98) for a 3-man weave reviewing Katie Nolan's new podcast. It's a concept we've wanted to do for awhile - a podcast reviewing another podcast - and what better show to start with than someone who goes back deep in Bill Simmons lore and, in many ways, is attemp…

Welcome to Episode 102! We bring back 3-time guests Flex and Chenny to react to the insane Luka trade and epic masterpiece from Russillo, Bill and Rob Mahoney, who recorded an emergency 3-man weave as soon as the trade happened Saturday night. We break it all down: the trade, the pod, Bill's juice, Russillo's virtuoso performance (yes, this is his …

Welcome to Episode #101! The Podfather is staying at Spotify, and thus we break down all the angles. Plus, reports indicate he may work with ESPN again, and we assess whether Zach Lowe is now planning on joining The Ringer. Enjoy!

Welcome to episode 100! We bring on 3-time guest Chris (Episodes 93 & 95) and first time guest Aaron (who's pod I guested on last week) to discuss, so far, the sports media story of the year: Big Cat grew up a Boston sports fan. That's right, the Pardon My Take co-host grew up right outside of Boston and only started rooting for Chicago teams after…

Welcome to Episode 99! We bring on @T_sizzle71 from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod show. We've focused on NBA ratings for the last couple episodes and had a welcome return to this podcast's roots talking all things Bill Simmons. We start off discussing our backgrounds with Bill, both finding him on ESPN.com in the early 2000s and listening to "Eye …

Welcome to Episode 98! We bring on Chanch and Kyle from TikTok, who are brothers in real life, for another classic r/BS Pod 3-man weave. We start off talking our history with Bill Simmons (0:00-9:15) before Chanch and Kyle introduce their foolproof way to fix the NBA (9:15-58:30). They've been perfecting this idea for over a decade, which primarily…

Welcome to Episode 97, where we bring back r/BS Pod favorites JF (Episodes 71 & 83) and TikTokInvestors (Episode 27) for a classic 3-man weave. We discuss the topic that's taken over NBA Media: Why are NBA ratings down? JF & TikTok expand on a variety of reasons highlighted by the NBA Twitter community but also detail several additional reasons tha…

We review the history of Bill Simmons and JJ Redick, dating back to 2010, that's led to Bill severely doubting the 2024 Lakers and saying JJ was a lunatic for taking the job - and why he's likely infuriated at their hot start.

Welcome to Episode 95! We bring back Doug from Episode 70 and Chris from Episode 93 for a timely 3-man weave. We start off discussing the recent Ringer news: Why we like these additions, and how they should fit into and improve their NBA and NFL coverage. The Ringer's NBA roster is now robust - do they even need Zach Lowe? And how is their NFL rost…

Welcome to Episode 94! We break down The Ringer bringing on Todd McShay, Kirk Goldsberry, Dave Jacoby and Joel Anderson, including: — Why these hires make a lot of sense — What this says about the evolution of podcasting — Why Bill is more likely to re-sign with Spotify now — Why Zach Lowe is still a long shot to sign with Bill Enjoy!…

Welcome to Episode 93! We bring on Chris from Twitter (@tbrodude) to dive into Bill's new Vince McMahon doc on Netflix. Over the course of the show we answer several questions, including: - Our grade on an A-F scale and vs. 30 for 30s and Bill's Andre the Giant HBO doc - How various groups (hardcore fans, casuals) are viewing the doc, and who the d…

Wow! Shocking news has hit the NBA. We break it all down — why was Zach fired, where will he land next, will he reunite with Bill Simmons, what this says about the current state of ESPN, and a lot more. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 91! We bring on Scott from Twitter (@Cap_tain_Ron) to focus all of our attention this episode on Any Given Wednesday, the short-lived, Bill Simmons-hosted, 2016 HBO sports late night show. It remains an enigma to this day given how bad it was, a shocking career failure for Bill Simmons, who came into HBO at the peak of his powers…

Welcome to Episode 90! We bring on a new 3-man weave with Joe from Twitter and Steve Franklin (@myguysteve) who join the pod for a laugh-filled episode. We discuss Bill's recent NFL pods and guests, speculate on his next move, suggest a game changing guest for Russillo, and do our first Ringer Snake Draft, with each of us drafting a team of BS Pod …

Welcome to the latest r/BS Pod! KOC has officially left The Ringer for Yahoo Sports and we break it all down - what does it mean for him & The Ringer, why did it happen, how does it relate to Solak and others leaving and Todd McShay joining, and what's the current and future state of The Ringer? Enjoy!…

Welcome to Episode 88! We bring on Nick from Twitter (@NickZararis) and a wide variety of sports media ventures for an excellent discussion on the changes of Bill Simmons and the sports media landscape over the years. Theme 1: Bill not doing the research anymore or watching the games - he was better prepared to cover the NFL and NBA as a columnist …

Welcome to a special edition of The r/BillSimmons Podcast! We break down the fast emerging Bill Simmons vs. Nick Wright feud from all the angles. We then touch on how this relates to Bill's expiring contract and predict what Nick and Bill's next moves are. Enjoy!

Welcome to another edition of the evolutionary 3-man weave! We bring back prior guests Chenny (Episode #75, #80) and Flex (#79, #80) to react to Bill's recent Fantasy Football preview show. And per usual on the r/BS Pod, we get into a lot of other Bill, Ringer and Russillo related topics. Timestamps below: — 0:00-38:30: Reaction to Sunday's Fantasy…

Welcome to the latest episode! We bring on Max from Twitter (@maxmarshall136) to discuss: — How was Bill so wrong about Bezos being interested in the Celtics? What was his true motivation? — Are the Celtics really a Tier 1 franchise like the Cowboys and Lakers? — The origin of Bill's LeBron hate going back to 2003 draft night — The Ringer's anti-He…

Welcome to Episode 84! We bring on a guest from Twitter - who might be the biggest Bill Simmons fan we've had on the show yet - for a rollicking look back at the history of the Bill Simmons Universe. Topics covered include: — Bill's time at ESPN The Magazine — Grantland Mount Rushmore — Looking back at our submissions to Grantland's Fantasy Footbal…

Welcome to Episode 83! We bring back JF from #71 for a continuation of some classic r/BS Pod topics: - Laughing at Tatum's Team USA flop; how mad is Bill? - Is the NBA rights deal going to work out for Amazon and NBC? - Will Amazon or NBC hire Bill for a studio gig? - What were Bill's actual contributions to 30 for 30? - Why did Benjamin Solak leav…

Welcome to Episode 82! Comcast, which owns NBC, held an earnings call today where they discussed the NBA deal in great detail, including what games they won, the split between NBC and Peacock, and why they believe the deal is worth the massive $2.5 Billion annual cost. I break Comcast's comments down in this instant reaction pod - enjoy!…

Welcome to a special sports media edition of The r/BillSimmons Podcast! News just broke that WBD matched Amazon's NBA rights offer. I discuss how I see it playing out, and who will actually win the rights when it's all said and done. I also get into Bill's scoop on Matt Belloni's pod about how Amazon structured the deal to combat the WBD match prov…

Welcome to Episode 80! We bring on Flex from Episode #79 and Chenny from Episode #75 - they know each other in real life - for a 3-man weave talking all things Bill, The Ringer, Russillo and more. We start out discussing the hilarity of Bill barely celebrating the Celtics win and instead immediately shifting to complaining. While we still expect hi…

Welcome to Episode 79! We bring on Flex from Twitter (@flexcfc) for a classic r/BS Pod rip. We first review Bill Simmons current events, including his frustration with the reaction to Tatum's playoffs. Why can't Bill be happy with the championship and why did he do a 180 on Tatum from earlier in the playoffs? We give our theories. We also weigh in …

Welcome to Episode 78! We bring on Ty from Pyramid the Podcast (yes, inspired by Bill) to talk Bill from the early days. Ty and his group of friends in Boston first discovered and then frequently emailed Bill in the late-90s as his column was on the rise. We discuss Bill at that time and Ty notes how part of what made Bill endearing was his aggress…

Welcome to Episode 77! The WSJ dropped a long article today revealing many more details of the upcoming NBA rights deal. For all intents and purposes and barring a hail mary by Warner Bros. Discovery, this is a done deal. In this show I assess why the Peacock exclusives are such a big deal, what this means for the future of streaming on NBC, why th…

Welcome to Episode #76! Andy (@AndyKHLiu) from the Light Years pod (https://linktr.ee/LightYearsPodcast) comes on for a fast-moving show covering several Bill Simmons and sports media topics. We start off with Andy's background becoming a Bill Simmons fan, and reminisce about Grantland and old Bill tweets. He really used to have no filter! Since An…

Welcome to Episode 75! We bring on Chenny from Twitter (@ChennyBritt) for a classic r/BS Pod episode talking Bill, Russillo, sports media and more. We start off discussing the interesting dynamic of Bill having long-time fans who know he's overreacting with extreme bias vs. the newer fans and NBA Twitter who actually take his words seriously; it's …

In this episode I break down why we’re about to see such a massive shift in the NBA rights deals. I discuss: — What went wrong with the formation of TNT’s parent Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) — Why WBD’s recent financials have been disastrous — The highly negative impact of WBD signing a new NBA deal at double the cost of the previous one — Why the …

Welcome to Episode 73! We bring on Mike from Twitter (@PokerPolitics) for a deeper look into the evolution of Bill Simmons, as Mike's been reading Bill since the Page 2 ESPN days in the early 2000s. First we start with Bill Simmons current events. His flip flops on the Wolves-Nuggets series have been legendary. Plus, we react to the embarrassing Ju…

Welcome to Episode 72! We bring on Wiser Times - the creator of the awesome intro song - for another classic r/BS Pod ep. First we delve into Bill Simmons current events. We're seeing previously unimagined levels of flip flopping from the Podfather, which is backfiring on him in hilarious ways. It's been very fun to see Bill's takes age poorly almo…

Welcome to Episode 71! We bring on JF, who reached out to me on the Bill Simmons subreddit wanting to talk Simmons, The Ringer and more. We first hit on Bill Simmons current events - it's laughable how much Bill praises and makes excuses for KD but hates on LeBron. What's the reason for this? We think it's obvious. Next we discuss why Mark Titus an…

Welcome to Episode 70! We bring on Doug from Twitter (@dougie_fresh055) for a rollicking ride of all things Bill Simmons. We first hit on Bill Simmons current events, including what will surely be a hilariously petty response to LeBron's podcast with JJ; in fact, this likely explains the uptick in cheap shots Bill's taken at LeBron lately. Next we …

That’s right — an entire show talking Ringer Union. The BS Pod has continued to be released despite no contract after it expired, yet Bill added a disclaimer today that The Ringer is “owned, managed and operated by Spotify” - was this an attempt to pass the buck? We say yes. Bill not only has significant influence at Spotify, but he’s also Head of …

Welcome to another episode! We bring back r/BS Pod OGs Pop & Bob — these guys have been here from the beginning. We haven't done a 3-man weave since late October, so we needed to get another evolutionary Ric Bucher, Steiny Mo and BS Report-era Bill Simmons 3-man weave episode out with so much going on in BS Land. We start with how we're holding up …

Welcome to Episode 67! We bring back fan favorite Zach (@_zachblatter) from Episode 55 for a return visit to The Ringer & Bill Simmons' video, social media and growth strategies. Zach (Brand Manager at The Strickland) is highly experienced in the field as anyone who listened to #55 can attest to and once again brings a variety of excellent ideas to…

Welcome to a jam packed episode with Jake from Twitter (@DeAnime69)! We start off with Bill Simmons current events. Mark Titus recently spoke not so glowingly about Bill on a podcast, so we discuss their falling out - Bill used to refer to Mark as his "illegitimate son" - as well as Titus' career progression to date, including some drawbacks of bei…

Bill Simmons has been chirping at Pat McAfee for months. A few weeks back Bill ripped off a lengthy impression making in fun of McAfee on his show. This closely followed Bill & Cousin Sal's buddy Jimmy Kimmel being miffed at McAfee guest Aaron Rodgers. McAfee waited a month, but today landed what I consider a nuclear blast on Simmons - audio includ…

Welcome to Episode 64! We bring on Brett (@CCM_Brett) from the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast (@chitchatstocks) for a deep dive into Spotify. The company's been in the news lately following a robust earnings report celebrated by Wall Street and their new deal with Joe Rogan, where he will still be with Spotify, but non-exclusive to their platform. On the…

Welcome to Episode 63! We had massive news last week with Joe Rogan re-upping his Spotify deal, but with major changes to his initial contract. We bring back Neil from Episode 62 to break it all down. First, this deal is much different than Joe's previous deal, as he's going non-exclusive and Spotify will help with ads and distribution, including o…

Welcome to Episode 62! We bring on Neil from Twitter (@NeilYayamanj) to discuss his journey of Bill Simmons fanhood over the last several years. This is the spiritual sequel to the fan favorite 4-hour Epic, Definitive Bill Simmons Retrospective, this time exploring in depth the period of Bill Simmons from 2017-2024. We kick off the pod talking abou…

Welcome to Episode 61! We bring on Henry from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod episode. After discussing our backgrounds with Bill, we hit on several topics: — Why does he focus so much on announcers & pre-game shows? — What's worse these days, his NFL takes or NBA takes? — Ringer employees: Who is good, who isn't? — Downfall of The Rewatchables — Hi…

We break down the much maligned Peacock game! Enjoy — 23 Million viewers much better than predictions — Financials mean it was a great buy by NBC — There will be a bidding war for next year's game(s) — NBA on NBC/Peacock now close to locked in

Welcome to Episode 59! The Peacock game is all the rage with wild takes left and right all week. As someone that works in sports media, I had to break it down. This is an EXCELLENT move for Peacock, and makes a ton of strategic sense for the NFL long-term. I go through the streaming and media landscape in 2024 to explain why. Thank you to @_zachbla…

Welcome to Episode 58! We bring on Bridger, the founder and editor in chief of New Grantland. That's right - a website dedicated to continuing the legacy and spirit of the epic Bill Simmons led ESPN project in the early 2010s. We start off discussing what we both loved about Grantland, and why it truly was a once in a generation publication and als…

Pat McAfee called out his boss and the #3 executive at ESPN by name on Friday's show. He not only didn't get suspended, but was back on ESPN on Monday doubling down, talking up his relationships with Bob Iger and ESPN's CEO and #2 exec, having on top ESPN talent from the national championship game set, and being front and center for College GameDay…

We have a special emergency podcast for a fast developing massive sports media story. We start with why Pat McAfee is at ESPN in the first place; ESPN is experiencing quickly declining profits and felt the need to take a high risk (and potential high reward) move. Next we discuss who Norby Williamson is (one of the most powerful people at ESPN) and…