Skip Bayless Leaving ESPN, Next Stop?

Skip Bayless is leaving ESPN, the network has announced. Though nothing is set in stone, it is widely expected that he will be reuniting with his former producer, Jamie Horowitz, who now heads FS1. Per ESPN, Bayless’s final episode of First Take will be the day following the end of the NBA Finals, and Richard Deitsch adds that the program will continue thereafter with someone else in Bayless’s spot.

ESPN has tested the limits of its deep bench in the past year, losing (or getting rid of) high-profile talent like Keith Olbermann, Colin Cowherd, Bill Simmons, and Mike Tirico.

As with Cowherd, ESPN did want to keep Bayless; this was not an easy decision for the personality.

This purported move from Horowitz is a shot across the bow of ESPN2, where First Take is a pillar of the daytime programming. The FS1 president has recently stated that he is using the success of Fox News as the template for what he is trying to build with a block of studio shows at the institution’s cable sports network.