The skip is close to becoming the undisputed champion of buyless contract negotiations.
He recently expanded from his current network to a four-year, $ 32 million FS1, after his previous employer, ESPN, tried to reunite him with former show partner Stephen A. Smith. The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported on Thursday. Sources told Marchand that Smith was a “driving force” in the chase.
MORE: Inside Bayless’s FS1 in 2016
It is unclear when the 69-year-old Bayless agreed to the new deal. He was nearing the end of his contract with Fox Sports last summer, which had lured him to launch his own show, “Unfired,” on FSP1 with a four-year, $ 24 million contract from ESPN in 2016. Bayless, Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharp and Jenny Taft co-hosted the weekday morning show.
Marchand reported that ESPN may have created a daily Bayless-Smith show on its ESPN + streaming service. The pair will also appear at the time of airing “Monday Night Football” to surpass ESPN assets such as ESPN +.
Fox Sports may give Bayless a single show on FS1 under its new deal, sources told Marchand, though it is unclear whether Bayless will do two shows or move on to one.
Bayless and Smith became cable sports talk superstars with polarization work on the “first low”. Smith remains the host of “Kell First”, now working with Max Kellerman and Molly Kyrim. Marchand reported in November 2019 Smith signed a five-year extension of approximately $ 8 million a year to stay at ESPN.
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