The gloves are off in the sports talking head debate show wars. ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe continues to come for former co-host Skip Bayless and the rotating guests that have replaced him. Appearing on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast last week, Sharpe said “Undisputed” will never beat “First Take” in the ratings because he and Stephen A. Smith are just better.
“Y’all not going to be better than me and Stephen A. That’s not going to happen,” Sharpe said. “I promise you, that is not going to happen. Ever. Ever. Now, if Stephen A. says, ‘Shannon, I want to go in a different direction,’ you all are still not [going to beat First Take in the ratings]. Because Stephen A. is that dude. If Stephen A. ever decides to leave and turn the reins over to me, you all know I’m that dude. I’m him. Now the problem y’all got is you got two hims to go up against.”
First Take Crushes Undisputed In Ratings
Sharpe isn’t wrong and the ratings support that.
On Monday, after the first weekend of the NFL season, “First Take” posted 626,000 viewers to 185,000 for “Undisputed.”
On the Tuesday after Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury, “First Take” drew 717,000 viewers compared to 118,000 for “Undisputed.”
Since Sharpe’s departure “Undisputed” has struggled to find its way. The show went on hiatus before returning with Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Richard Sherman and a rotating cast of characters.
The ratings show just how critical Sharpe was to the show’s success. If “Undisputed” continues to get crushed in the ratings, expect more shakeup. Bayless signed a four-year, $32 million deal with Fox Sports in 2021 and at some point the juice won’t be worth the squeeze for the network.
Sharpe and Bayless Had No Personal Relationship
Sharpe has opened up about his time working with Bayless and their lack of a personal relationship.
“Skip would get to work, I would get to work,” Sharpe said. “It was really like a heavyweight fight. We barely talked … it was very little communication.”
It seems like Bayless viewed their on-air debates as actual competition and saved his energy for when the camera lights turned on.
“In seven years, Skip and I, I think we had brunch once. And that’s OK. I don’t think Skip’s a bad guy. I didn’t develop the type of work relationship with him that I did with some of the guys that I played with when I was in Denver or I was in Baltimore … or some of the young ladies in wardrobe or makeup. Because I didn’t get the sense that’s what he wanted, so I’m not a guy that’s going to force anything. If you show me you want to have a relationship outside work, I’ll accept that. If you want to have a relationship that’s strictly work and it’s confined to the two and a half hours when we are at work … I’m cool with that too. I’m there to do a job.”
Sharpe and Smith have a relationship outside of work which is a key to their on-air chemistry and seemingly overall comfortable environment.
