Friday marked the end of Skip Bayless’ tenure at FS1.
After eight years, the longtime sports analyst announced that Friday’s episode of “Undisputed” was his final with the show created for him in 2016.
During Friday’s show, Bayless gave no indication that it was his final one. In fact, it went normally as scheduled, with Keyshawn Johnson and Paul Pierce in their usual spots, and legendary rapper Lil Wayne making his weekly appearance.
You’d figure that Skip would say a couple of words to the fans who helped feed his ratings during his peak years and as he and Shannon competed with juggernaut show ‘First Take’ for eyeballs. He truly is a titan of the game and at one time was the highest-paid daily show talking TV head in the business.
Skip Bayless Doesn’t Say Goodbye To Fans Of His Show
Immediately following the show Bayless took to X to let the cat out of the bag and thank his boy Lil Wayne for an iconic theme song.
“Today was my last show on Undisputed. I’m leaving FS1. I’ve been planning to pursue other opportunities for several months. I had a great 8-year run with a lot of great people at Fox, but now I’m excited for what’s coming up. Stay tuned.”
Things Changed When Shannon Sharpe Left Last June
When the show was formed in 2016, Bayless chose Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe as his debate partner. The two formed a pretty strong duo for the first seven years — that is, until Bayless began to take unnecessary personal shots at Sharpe during certain segments.
Things seemingly came to a head following Bayless’s insensitive and controversial tweet concerning Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin who nearly died on the field during a key Monday Night Football matchup between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.
That followed a huge on-air argument where Bayless downplayed Sharpe’s illustrious career while praising seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady’s career. These two instances pretty much killed any on-air chemistry between the two, and in June of 2023 Sharpe departed the show, and the ratings plummeted.
What’s Next For Bayless?
Sharpe’s departure forced Bayless to revamp the entire show, and that’s where things got dicey. Following the three-time Super Bowl-winning tight end’s exit Bayless attempted to add other former pros. The aforementioned Johnson, Pierce, Richard Sherman and Michael Irvin as well as longtime analyst Rachel Nichols. From the jump this setup was an unmitigated disaster with more yelling back and forth than actual sports talk and debate.
Ratings took a nosedive, and when Sharpe joined ESPN’s “First Take” things got even uglier for his former co-worker and his show. In an effort to quell the notion that FS1 asked him to leave, Bayless did his best to make it seem as as if he’s been looking to leave and has other opportunities lined up.
As of now that’s a mystery, but one thing for sure and two things for certain, a possible return to ESPN is out the question. When it was announced that Bayless would be leaving FS1 by summer’s end, ESPN brass quickly put to rest any realm of speculation that he was returning.
