Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe had one of the biggest breakups in recent sports media history after their partnership came to a volatile end at FS1’s Undisputed. But time heals all wounds and podcasts need subscribers, so the pair are coming back together for an unlikely reunion.
According to Front Office Sports, Sharpe and Bayless have already taped a reunion episode for the former’s Club Shay Shay podcast.
It was in 2016 when the two first joined forces at FS1 for a new daily show, Undisputed. This was still in the era when FS1 was trying to compete head-to-head with ESPN, and the hiring of Bayless was seen as a significant step in that direction given his success and notoriety on First Take. The network brought aboard Sharpe as his debate partner, and the two enjoyed moderate success through the first several years of Undisputed, certainly by FS1 standards now.
But after several moments where embracing debate got a little too real, the relationship went south. The cracks in the Undisputed foundation developed into chasms in 2023 when Shannon Sharpe skipped an episode after Skip Bayless’ horrifying tweet about Damar Hamlin. Finally, in May, Sharpe reached a buyout with Bayless and said goodbye in June. In spite of the public and private acrimony between the pair, Sharpe thanked Bayless for the opportunity to work with him for seven years.
Since their very public divorce, the two have been on very different trajectories. Bayless has meandered through the podcast world, now on to a new show with Aqib Talib in time for the new football season in addition to his other individual shows.
Sharpe had looked like he had come out of Undisputed with his career reaching new heights on Bayless’ old show, First Take. However, his ESPN tenure was brought to a screeching halt due to a sexual assault lawsuit that was later settled. He has continued on with his own podcast network that still has a huge reach. Club Shay Shay and Nightcap reach 5 million combined subscribers on YouTube.
Time will tell if this is a one-time opportunity or if there are more collaborations in the future. Club Shay Shay is usually a longform interview that Sharpe hosts, so it’s likely that will be the format with his former FS1 colleague. But given it’s been so long since the two shared the same set, it will be fascinating to see what chemistry they still have and what gets revisited from their breakup.
In all honesty, Skip Bayless probably needs the publicity from a reunion show more than Shannon Sharpe does. His numbers are far behind what the NFL Hall of Famer draws on YouTube. And maybe, like we saw with his one-time invite from old friend Stephen A. Smith on First Take earlier this year, this is one more last chance at keeping his name alive. And at the very least, it’ll give both an opportunity to reminisce about what once was. After all, what you most want is what you most can’t have. And what you most can’t have is what you already had, and lost.
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