<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=07BVkC_0w3GPTgd00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=07BVkC_0w3GPTgd00" width="768" height="530" ><p>Former FS1 personality Skip Bayless has “spent the last decade-plus as one of the most recognizable faces on ESPN and then Fox Sports,” but now he is “focused on his own grand plans,” according to Ben Strauss of the WASHINGTON POST. Bayless, who left FS1 when his contract expired in August, wants to “create a digital network for a YouTube channel.” He's already got his weekly solo show, but he is “planning to add an interview show and a debate show.” He said that he is “considering five or six different debate partners,” though he declined to name names. His other projects “include a book about his years in television (that he says he couldn’t write while working for a TV network)” and a “screenplay centered on a LeBron James-like character that he plans to shop.” Strauss noted Bayless “talks these days like any TV star who isn’t on TV anymore,” saying that there is “a freedom to the internet without any bosses or corporate red tape.” Bayless said that his departure from Fox had “been in the works for years,” and when his first Fox contract was up a few years ago, he “wanted to reunite”&nbsp;with former partner Stephen A. Smith at ESPN. He added that he “had a contract offer from ESPN,” but Fox “exercised a matching clause.” Bayless: “I was devastated. Stephen A. was devastated. They were obviously not real happy that I would be so disloyal as to try to strong arm my way out of FS1.” Sources noted that Bayless later had “extensive discussions about doing an ESPN Plus show with Smith,” but that “never came to fruition.” As he considers his roster of debaters, Bayless was asked if Smith could be a possibility -- given Smith’s “newfound freedom at ESPN to appear on so many outside platforms.” Bayless: “I would love to do that, and I will try to do that” (WASHINGTON POST, 10/10).</p></div></body>

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Skip Bayless embarking on new business ventures after leaving Fox Sports

Former FS1 personality Skip Bayless has “spent the last decade-plus as one of the most recognizable faces on ESPN and then Fox Sports,” but now he is “focused on his own grand plans,” according to Ben Strauss of the WASHINGTON POST. Bayless, who left FS1 when his contract expired in August, wants to “create a digital network for a YouTube channel.” He's already got his weekly solo show, but he is “planning to add an interview show and a debate show.” He said that he is “considering five or six different debate partners,” though he declined to name names. His other projects “include a book about his years in television (that he says he couldn’t write while working for a TV network)” and a “screenplay centered on a LeBron James-like character that he plans to shop.” Strauss noted Bayless “talks these days like any TV star who isn’t on TV anymore,” saying that there is “a freedom to the internet without any bosses or corporate red tape.” Bayless said that his departure from Fox had “been in the works for years,” and when his first Fox contract was up a few years ago, he “wanted to reunite” with former partner Stephen A. Smith at ESPN. He added that he “had a contract offer from ESPN,” but Fox “exercised a matching clause.” Bayless: “I was devastated. Stephen A. was devastated. They were obviously not real happy that I would be so disloyal as to try to strong arm my way out of FS1.” Sources noted that Bayless later had “extensive discussions about doing an ESPN Plus show with Smith,” but that “never came to fruition.” As he considers his roster of debaters, Bayless was asked if Smith could be a possibility -- given Smith’s “newfound freedom at ESPN to appear on so many outside platforms.” Bayless: “I would love to do that, and I will try to do that” (WASHINGTON POST, 10/10).

Skip Bayless embarking on new business ventures after leaving Fox Sports

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