As DAZN begins a sponsorship relationship with the Ringer, DAZN executive chairman John Skipper joined The BIll Simmons Podcast.
“We had an acrimonious ending,” Simmons said in his opener, adding that it was ironic the show was recorded on April Fools Day.
Simmons mentioned the duo had dinner a few months prior to talk about how things went “sideways.” He added both men looked back and realized they could have done things differently; throughout the show both Simmons and Skipper displayed thanks for reconciling the mistakes of the past and were happy to have a working relationship once again.
“This is both weird and not weird” – Simmons admitted early on.
“I am shockingly comfortable,” Skipper said. “There’s a slight trepidation, you and I haven’t actually done anything public for quite a long time, so I had a little trepidation, but I come in, I sit down on the sofa and it’s quite comfortable and we’re laughing about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and it’s great to see you.”
“It really makes me feel good to figure out some way to pay you exorbitant sums of money again,” Skipper added sighting the “quicky marriage” between DAZN and Simmons’ show.
Simmons began the conversation discussing Skipper’s early career at Rolling Stone in which Skipper admits a similarity to Simmons departure from ESPN.
“We share this in common, I was fired for insubordination,” Skipper said. “I was the publisher of Us magazine, 10 years after I started, and Jann wanted me to do some things which I resisted and thought I knew better than he did, forgetting in my mind that I didn’t actually own the magazine, he did, so I was dismissed.”
Simmons and Skipper discussed their disagreements towards the end of the podcast. The troubles began with Simmons not wanting to return to NBA Countdown. Simmons then blasted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on his podcast with a challenge to his superiors to hold back his thoughts, which ultimately lead to Skipper handing down a suspension.
“We were no longer dealing with each other day-to-day,” Skipper said of the frustrating situation. “So when you would pop back up in my life it was for some kind of problem. It’s like ‘Damn, I’ve got a full day already and now I’m going to spend the next three hours dealing with this.’”
Simmons added a bit later he realizes now with a bit of maturity and regret it was an issue that could have been resolved much easier.
“To me it seems stupid now,” Simmons said. “We had like this real relationship. At some point we should have had a real conversation about it. I see it from your point because I look like some rogue asshole who’s not listening to you which makes you look bad as a leader, which is a whole other issue.”
The podcast also includes other discussions such as how ESPN The Magazine, 30 For 30 and Grantland were started, an interesting story on Simmons trying to get Barack Obama on his podcast in 2008, and the rewards and difficulties of working at ESPN for both Skipper and Simmons.