Two years ago, Bill Simmons was hunkered down at his house in LA fielding calls from the who’s who of the media world wanting him to join their organization.
Fox. Yahoo. Showtime. They all wanted the “Boston Sports Guy” to join their team after being unceremoniously fired by ESPN.
In the end, he signed exclusively on TV in a deal with HBO and got it to invest in a new site called, The Ringer, that would mimic his old site, Grantland, in writing detailed pieces about sports and pop culture.
The deal was smart in that it kept Simmons’ profile high by being on TV on one of the most prestigious networks, paid him a high salary for three years (estimated at $7 million to $9 million per year), and kicked in some capital to get The Ringer off the ground.
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