Last week, Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe ended his seven-year tenure as co-host of FS1s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed” with Skip Bayless.
When you consider the following Sharpe has accrued via his HOF football career and his rising status on daytime sports television, his departure leaves a huge hole for the network to fill.
While that will be done sooner rather than later, what Sharpe decides to do next seems to be a much bigger story, and, per reports, the loquacious Sharpe isn’t resting on his laurels.
On his last day at FS1 Sharpe quoted this as he signed off the air.
“You’ll see me again. I just don’t know where.”
Well one week later, Sharpe’s next destination is becoming a bit clearer.
Per reports, Sharpe and FanDuel TV are in talks about adding him to their morning sports lineup. FanDuel TV is a network designed to be watched with a phone as well as on smart television. The free app is available via FireTV, AppleTV or Roku.
Sharpe’s Tweet Caused A Stir
Following an emotional sendoff and pretty quiet week thereafter, Sharpe reappeared on Monday with this tweet.
The tweet alone has accrued over 14,000 likes and nearly 1.5 million views. It also signaled that something is in the air concerning where Sharpe is taking his talents.
FanDuel Makes Sense For Shannon Sharpe
The giant betting operator needs to replace Pat McAfee who took his show to ESPN. There were also rumors that McAfee was recruiting Unc Shay Shay to ESPN.
While both McAfee and even Stephen A. Smith are good friends of Bayless, both say they’d love to see Sharpe join ESPN, but he’d be better suited to land at FanDuel.
With the NFL season less than three months from kickoff, adding Sharpe would be a huge get after losing McAfee.
Sharpe could also run his popular “Club Shay Shay” podcast (that podcast has over 1.2 million followers).
A source close to the situation said:
“Shannon doesn’t want to sit out football season. It’s his bread and butter.”
Of course it is, he’s a retired football Hall of Famer who’s made his name playing and talking the game, and no way he wants to miss the 2023 NFL season.
FanDuel Permits Talents To Maximize Earnings Potential
Not only does FanDuel shell out the big bucks, as McAfee was making a reported $30 million per year before leaving for ESPN, but they also allow their talent to pursue opportunities outside of the FanDuel umbrella. McAfee’s decision to leave FanDuelTV stems from the birth of his first child and ESPN agreeing to handle the production and business side of the show, giving the host more time with his growing family.
In fact, NBA insider Shams Charania works with The Athletic and Stadium, while also being a co-host of “Run It Back” on FanDuelTV.
Sharpe will probably have his choice of where he wants to go with the following he has, and if he chooses to join FanDuel it’s not known if he’ll have his own show or join one of the shows they already have. There are other big money betting platforms like DraftKings and Caesars SportsBook that may throw a huge bag in hopes of snatching Sharpe’s services.
