Bill Simmons’ new venture has been kept well under wraps, but we are finally starting to see it take shape and it has a name.
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Nine months after ESPN announced via The New York Times that they would not renew the contract of Bill Simmons, the former ESPN-er announced his return to the medium where he made his initial fame.
While there’s obviously not to much to go on there, CNN’s Brian Stelter noted that The Ringer’s newsletter, advertised on the site’s launch page, will begin in mid-March.
Ex-Grantlander Sean Fennessey will reportedly serve as editor in chief of The Ringer. Numerous writers followed Simmons out the door and joined him at HBO.
Like Grantland, which ESPN shuttered in October, The Ringer will reportedly have both sports and cultural commentary. On Twitter, Simmons called the decision “simply appalling”.
Simmons left ESPN after several clashes with the network and was once suspended for calling National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell a liar. The multiyear, multiplatform pact also includes a production deal that will have Simmons – who co-created ESPN’s well-regarded 30 for 30 documentary franchise – producing content for the network and its digital platforms, delivering video, podcasts and features as he did at ESPN. The online property’s debut could also coincide with Simmons’ upcoming HBO series, which is also sparse when it comes to details.
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The site is a product of the Bill Simmons Media Group, a company Simmons recently founded.
