Like many people, Bill Simmons is a fan of Good Morning Football.
So it stands to reason that — like many people — the Sports Guy is confused by the NFL Network’s handling of its signature show.
Earlier this month, the NFL announced that following an oddly timed hiatus between the end of March and the start of training camp in late-July, the show will be moving its operation from New York City to Los Angeles. The announcement reportedly caught the show’s entire staff — including its cast — off guard, with host Jamie Erdahl announcing on Wednesday that she’ll be moving to LA with the show.
Even if co-hosts Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt and Jason McCourty join her — which is hardly a given at this point — it seems clear that GMFB will be drastically different when it returns in the summer. And in the eyes of Simmons, if ain’t broke, why try to fix it?
“This was like the one show that gave the network an identity,” Simmons said on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “I’m not sure if the cast is going to go to LA. If they go to LA, the show would start at 5 in the morning. So basically, they’re ruining the show. And it feels like, bigger picture, NFL Network is headed toward either not existing or being sold off to Amazon or Apple or one of those things.
“It’s a really unique situation. I can’t remember a TV sports show that’s actually good that might not exist. It’s like the hardest thing to land… if you create something that people like and you create something that’s a little bit of a brand, that’s like the hardest thing to do. Whether it’s a TV show, it’s a podcast, whatever. And they actually did this and they did this on on the NFL’s channel in a way that I never felt like those guys were shills for the league. They had real conversations. I thought they were educational, they were fun… I don’t know what the f*** the NFL’s doing. But if this show is going to cease to exist, that’s just dumbfounding to me.”
Simmons went on to note that there’s no good explanation for any of this. Even if it’s a matter of money, it’s not like the NFL hurting financially.
“If they need 100 million bucks, just sell a Saturday December game to Apple,” The Ringer co-founder suggested. “I’m super confused by this.”
He’s not alone.
As we wrote when the news was first announced, the NFL was clearly risking ruining Good Morning Football‘s success with its cross-country move. The news that Erdahl is moving with the show is an encouraging sign. But as Simmons points out, plenty of questions about the show’s future remain. Including most importantly, why is the NFL Network messing with its signature show in the first place?
