In the wake of Shannon Sharpe’s departure, Skip Bayless’ revamped Undisputed is starting to take shape and people inside Fox reportedly aren’t happy with the talent additions.
Sharpe officially parted ways with FS1 and Undisputed in June, leaving Bayless to take the entire summer off as he works to fill the Pro Football Hall of Famer’s void. With plans of relaunching Undisputed Aug. 28, Bayless has so far recruited Lil Wayne, Rachel Nichols and Richard Sherman as contributors, while Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin are reportedly still being considered for roles.
Instead of replacing Sharpe with one debate partner to yell at every day, Bayless appears to be going the route his former co-host Stephen A. Smith took First Take two years ago by building a rotating cast of contributors. According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, unnamed Fox employees aren’t impressed. Per Front Office Sports:
“This is it? This is literally copying exactly what ESPN is doing. And it will make a bad show worse. Rachel Nichols has never been a debater or given opinions. She’s a great interviewer. So this is a classic miscast,” said one TV talent, who declined to be named.
“Lil Wayne is Skip’s barbecue buddy. Sherman has potential. But Keyshawn just got laid off by ESPN — and is looking for his next gig. This shows me they’re having trouble finding major talents to work with Skip.”
Nichols, Wayne, Sherman, Johnson and Irvin might alter the crux of what Undisputed has been for the last seven years, but they are certainly viable talent additions. More than questioning why those personalities will be featured on Undisputed this year, the bigger question is whether Bayless plans on continuing to ignore FS1’s entire talent pool.
Smith has brought outside talent onto First Take such as Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, Michael Irvin and he’s reportedly looking to add Shannon Sharpe as well. But Smith also features ESPN’s already robust pool of analysts on the show, regularly sparring with Dan Orlovsky, JJ Redick, Mina Kimes and Kendrick Perkins. So far, there have been no reports of Bayless planning to use the likes of Nick Wright, Emmanuel Acho, Greg Jennings, Joy Taylor or Mark Schlereth on his revamped version of Undisputed.
“Skip doesn’t want to work with Nick Wright,” the unnamed Fox source told Front Office Sports. “Skip doesn’t want to work with anybody who will make him look bad. And Nick would disembowel him on the air.”
Wright is the most interesting one because his affinity for LeBron James seems like the perfect counter to Skip’s routine desire to slander the four-time NBA champion. Apparently, Wright made one appearance on Undisputed in 2017, roasted Bayless for his LeBron hot takes and was never invited on the show again. This story sounds very similar to the time Bomani Jones went head to head with Bayless on First Take and never received another invite.
The concept of Bayless debating a rotating cast of contributors should help to break the monotony of Undisputed. And while the audience might long for Bayless to add debate partners he can’t beat, is that something that Fox wants? Undisputed is built around Bayless’s ability to create content that can entertain and provoke social media, and Fox probably doesn’t want to pair him with someone who will regularly pull the curtain back on that.
[FOS]
