The r/BillSimmons Podcast

Welcome to Episode 64! We bring on Brett (@CCM_Brett) from the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast (@chitchatstocks) for a deep dive into Spotify. The company's been in the news lately following a robust earnings report celebrated by Wall Street and their new deal with Joe Rogan, where he will still be with Spotify, but non-exclusive to their platform.

On the pod we discuss 1) Why investors liked the recent earnings report, 2) Why does Spotify's music business keep growing so quickly, 3) Why Spotify got into podcasting, 4) How The Ringer helped their podcasting plans, 5) The implications of Joe Rogan's new deal, and 6) The future of Spotify podcasting, including where Bill Simmons and The Ringer fit going forward.

After that, we finish the pod talking sports media current events, including the new sports streaming service announced by Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix's WWE deal.

If you liked the show, check out Brett on the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/show/4SBtOWGEOmD9pmltgIXO8r

Welcome to Episode 63! We had massive news last week with Joe Rogan re-upping his Spotify deal, but with major changes to his initial contract. We bring back Neil from Episode 62 to break it all down.

First, this deal is much different than Joe's previous deal, as he's going non-exclusive and Spotify will help with ads and distribution, including on YouTube. The contract is also structured as a lower guaranteed payout with revenue sharing, and Spotify aims to do this with all their top podcast deals.

Thus, what does this mean for Bill Simmons' future? We speculate, including our thoughts that this deal actually means Bill will *not* re-up at Spotify - unless he truly is in Keep Cashin' Dem Checks Mode for good.

We also talk podcasting and audio in general and assess the future of the medium, including lessons learned from Pardon My Take, Call Her Daddy and Rogan's pod - when and why did Bill lose the #1 sports podcast to PMT?

We finish up with a recap of the Larry David BS Pod. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 62! We bring on Neil from Twitter (@NeilYayamanj) to discuss his journey of Bill Simmons fanhood over the last several years. This is the spiritual sequel to the fan favorite 4-hour Epic, Definitive Bill Simmons Retrospective, this time exploring in depth the period of Bill Simmons from 2017-2024.

We kick off the pod talking about Neil's introduction to Bill and how he immediately took to him as he was yearning for sports talk. Bill mixed in other qualitative features that made him a great listen and hang, and Neil earnestly began his Podcast friendship or "pod-ship."

And for awhile, the pod-ship was great. Bill was the guy you could talk to at the bar who knew his stuff on sports and pop culture. Neil enjoyed his celebrity interviews, inside look at stories like Magic resigning from the Lakers, and his understanding of sports and pop culture as a plugged in operator.

But then we hit on the dissolution of the pod-ship. Bill started outright going through the motions and mailing it in, including zero mention of baseball (even though he made his name on the sport) and his MIA Mark Cuban selling the Mavs and McAfee vs. Norby takes. We also examine Bill's personality on his Smartness and Marc Maron appearances.

We finish up how Bill finalized his journey from epic columnist and podcaster to Shill Simmons.

Welcome to Episode 61! We bring on Henry from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod episode. After discussing our backgrounds with Bill, we hit on several topics:

— Why does he focus so much on announcers & pre-game shows?

— What's worse these days, his NFL takes or NBA takes?

— Ringer employees: Who is good, who isn't?

— Downfall of The Rewatchables

— His overall hypocrisy

We also discuss Bill's KD takes, and use Bill's own The Book of Basketball to show how 2024 Bill Simmons is massively overrating KD based on 2010 Bill Simmons' Pyramid rankings formula.

Hope you enjoy, and thank you to Wiser Times for the intro song (@WiserTimesmusic) and Zach Blatter for the podcast art (@_zachblatter)

We break down the much maligned Peacock game! Enjoy

— 23 Million viewers much better than predictions

— Financials mean it was a great buy by NBC

— There will be a bidding war for next year's game(s)

— NBA on NBC/Peacock now close to locked in

Welcome to Episode 59! The Peacock game is all the rage with wild takes left and right all week.

As someone that works in sports media, I had to break it down. This is an EXCELLENT move for Peacock, and makes a ton of strategic sense for the NFL long-term. I go through the streaming and media landscape in 2024 to explain why.

Thank you to @_zachblatter for the podcast art and @WiserTimesmusic for the intro song

Welcome to Episode 58! We bring on Bridger, the founder and editor in chief of New Grantland. That's right - a website dedicated to continuing the legacy and spirit of the epic Bill Simmons led ESPN project in the early 2010s.

We start off discussing what we both loved about Grantland, and why it truly was a once in a generation publication and also the last of its kind in the internet era. Also, why hasn't Bill done the same with The Ringer?

We then discuss the evolution of sports media and reference one of Bridger's articles for the site. How did Twitter kill the sports journalist? We next discuss the evolution of Bill Simmons and his writing career in classic r/BS Pod form.

If you liked the show, check out https://newgrantland.com and give a follow on Twitter & Instagram @newgrantland!

Pat McAfee called out his boss and the #3 executive at ESPN by name on Friday's show.

He not only didn't get suspended, but was back on ESPN on Monday doubling down, talking up his relationships with Bob Iger and ESPN's CEO and #2 exec, having on top ESPN talent from the national championship game set, and being front and center for College GameDay.

At least for now, McAfee has achieved a resounding victory.

We also dive into the history of Norby Williamson and how his strategic leaking has been an open secret for years.

We have a special emergency podcast for a fast developing massive sports media story. We start with why Pat McAfee is at ESPN in the first place; ESPN is experiencing quickly declining profits and felt the need to take a high risk (and potential high reward) move.

Next we discuss who Norby Williamson is (one of the most powerful people at ESPN) and his alleged use of strategic leaking to sports media reporters to gain power.

We then assess the current state of play for why Pat believes Norby is sabotaging his show, and what the motivation could be for Norby to do so.

Throughout the pod and at the end, we discuss other major sports media personalities who have had run ins with Norby - including Bill Simmons, Jemele Hill and Dan LeBatard - and why we wouldn't be surprised if they're privately rooting for Norby to finally get his comeuppance.

Welcome to Episode 55! We bring on Zach (@_zachblatter on Twitter) from The Strickland (@TheStrickland), a Knicks-focused podcast, to talk Bill, Russillo, sports media, podcasts and more.

The timing for this pod couldn't have been better given the RJ Barrett trade, so Zach gives his initial reaction and we discuss takes from Bill and KOC on the news.

Next we get into Zach's background with Bill, being a relatively new fan, and how Russillo has market corrected Bill for him, like many of our guests - including Ryen's Life Advice, the evolutionary Page 2 Simmons mailbag.

From there, we give Bill some free advice on what to do to grow The Ringer - if he's interested. Since Zach both is a brand manager for The Strickland (Knicks content) and a younger sports fan (early 20s), he has a variety of thoughts for how Bill and The Ringer can - but are not currently - capturing the attention of the younger sports fans. Unlike, for example, Bleacher Report or JJ Redick's podcast, Bill and The Ringer have not embraced new school ways to grow his media business, and we suspect that's hurting their performance.

We then discuss some interactions Zach/The Strickland have had with KOC and Bill himself, including the infamous Brunson clip where Bill hated on him but then called The Strickland's edit "disingenuous" (it wasn't) - just take the L Bill (https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/1626678191237783557)

Next we talk the upcoming NBA rights deal, including how the NBA should follow in the footsteps of the NFL doing a deal with YouTube, which leads into a conversation of how younger people watch sports these days. We finish up discussing Zach's take on KD including Bill's KD's ranking, and if Bill can land the plane on the Vince WWE documentary.

If you liked the pod, check out Zach and The Strickland on Twitter, and a big thank you to Zach for his graphic design for the show's new cover art - you can find the link to his work on his Twitter.