Bill Simmons
Born 1969 · Age 56
American sportswriter, podcaster, cultural critic; founder & CEO of The Ringer; former ESPN columnist and Grantland editor.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Marlborough, Massachusetts
William John Simmons III was born to William Simmons and Jan Corbo in Marlborough, MA.
Parents divorced; moved to Stamford, CT to live with mother
Parents divorced when Simmons was nine; he later moved to Stamford, Connecticut to live with his mother.
Completed postgraduate year at Choate Rosemary Hall
Completed a postgraduate year at Choate (Wallingford, CT).
Graduated College of the Holy Cross (B.A.)
Graduated with a B.A. in political science; involved with campus paper The Crusader and other student publications.
Earned M.A. in Print Journalism from Boston University
Completed a master's degree in print journalism while living in Brookline, MA.
Started at the Boston Herald (high school sports reporter/editorial assistant)
Began working at the Boston Herald the September after grad school doing entry-level sports reporting and editorial tasks.
Founded BostonSportsGuy.com on AOL's Digital City Boston
Badgered Digital City Boston into giving him a column and started 'Boston Sports Guy' while bartending; paid about $50/week early on.
Freelancer at Boston Phoenix; bartending
Worked briefly as a freelancer for the Boston Phoenix; financial struggles led him to bartend while building his web column.
BostonSportsGuy column became publicly available on the web
After initially circulating on AOL and via email, the column/website went live on the public web in November 1998.
Married Kari Crichton
Married Kari (referred to in his columns as 'The Sports Gal'); the couple have two children.
Recruited by ESPN; wrote three guest columns
ESPN recruited Simmons (as 'The Boston Sports Guy') to write guest columns in 2001; he later became a lead columnist on ESPN.com's Page 2.
Site traffic milestone: ~10,000 readers and 45,000 hits/day
By 2001, his site averaged roughly 10,000 readers and 45,000 hits per day, establishing a national profile.
Published 'Is Clemens the Antichrist?' (second ESPN column)
One of his early, highly shared ESPN pieces that contributed to his rapid rise in profile at ESPN.com.
Joined ESPN The Magazine as bi-weekly columnist
Began writing an 800-word bi-weekly column for ESPN The Magazine (later negotiated to 1,200 words).
Recruitment by Jimmy Kimmel; decided to join writing staff
After repeated requests from Jimmy Kimmel, Simmons agreed to join Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a writer; he moved to California on Nov 16, 2002.
Began working as a comedy writer at Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Started writing for the show in April 2003; continued to write for ESPN while at Kimmel (both owned by Disney).
Left Jimmy Kimmel Live! to focus on writing
Departed Jimmy Kimmel Live! in spring 2004 after roughly 1.5 years to return full-time to his columns.
ESPN launched an online cartoon based on his columns (later stopped)
ESPN experimented with a cartoon adaptation of Simmons' work in late 2004; he later called it a 'debacle' and discontinued involvement.
Published first book: 'Now I Can Die in Peace'
Collection of columns centered on the Red Sox run; reached The New York Times best-seller list and spent five weeks on extended list.
Conceived ESPN's '30 for 30' documentary series (with Connor Schell)
Simmons and Connor Schell created the '30 for 30' concept to mark ESPN's 30th year and highlight forgotten/resonant sports stories.
Named 12th-most influential person in online sports by Sports Business Journal
Recognized in 2007 list (highest position for a non-executive that year).
Launched podcast 'Eye of the Sportsguy'
Began podcasting for ESPN.com on May 8, 2007; soon evolved into The B.S. Report.
Podcast renamed 'The B.S. Report' (theme by Ronald Jenkees)
On June 14, 2007 the podcast adopted a new name and theme; it became one of ESPN.com's top downloaded podcasts.
Feud with Jerry Remy over Red Sox Nation presidency
Simmons accepted and then removed himself from consideration for the ceremonial Red Sox Nation presidency after a public spat with NESN's Jerry Remy.
Joined ESPN series E:60 as special contributor
In October 2007, Simmons expanded TV contributions by joining E:60.
Public dispute with ESPN over editorial control (May–Nov 2008 tensions)
Public battles with ESPN about creative freedom, including podcast edits and an Obama interview being nixed; he briefly quit the B.S. Report in Nov 2008 before returning with a disclaimer.
Took 10 weeks off to finish second book
Announced in July 2008 a 10-week break from Page 2 columns to complete 'The Book of Basketball.'
Became a regular moderator/panelist at MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference
Since 2009 Simmons has served as a moderator/panelist at the MIT Sloan conference.
B.S. Report downloads: >25.4M in 2009
The podcast accumulated more than 25.4 million downloads in 2009.
Twitter suspension (two weeks) over public tweets
Late 2009 Simmons was temporarily suspended from Twitter by ESPN for tweets critical of Boston radio station WEEI.
Announced retirement from ESPN The Magazine
On July 27, 2009 Simmons announced his retirement from ESPN The Magazine but continued on ESPN.com Page 2.
Traffic milestone (comScore): 1.4M pageviews; 460k unique visitors/month
Between June and November 2009 Page 2/column averaged 1.4M pageviews and 460k unique visitors per comScore data.
Published 'The Book of Basketball'
Released Oct 27, 2009; book debuted at the top of The New York Times bestseller list for non-fiction.
IDA Award – '30 for 30' Continuing Series (winner)
Documentary series associated with Simmons won International Documentary Association recognition.
Won Shorty Award (Best in Sports)
Received Shorty Award recognizing social media/podcast influence in sports.
Launched Grantland (editor-in-chief)
Grantland (ESPN-owned longform sports & pop culture site) launched on June 8, 2011 with Simmons as editor-in-chief.
Producer's Guild of America nomination(s) for '30 for 30'
Nominated for PGA award(s) in 2012 (and subsequent years) for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television for '30 for 30'.
Joined NBA Countdown as panelist/contributor
Began appearing on ESPN/ABC's NBA Countdown pregame show for the 2012–2013 NBA season.
Controversy: Memphis Grizzlies comment backlash
Faced criticism for linking local fans' ambivalence about the Grizzlies to lingering trauma around MLK assassination.
Twitter suspension (March 2013)
ESPN again suspended Simmons from Twitter in March 2013 for critical tweets toward ESPN programming.
Suspended by ESPN for three weeks over criticism of Roger Goodell
ESPN suspended Simmons for criticizing NFL commissioner Goodell's handling of Ray Rice evidence.
Debut of The Grantland Basketball Hour (TV show)
Grantland Basketball Show (later The Grantland Basketball Hour) premiered Oct 21, 2014; Simmons co-hosted with Jalen Rose.
Named a Webby Awards judge (IADAS membership)
Announced as a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (Webby judge) in Oct 2014.
Estimated net worth pre-Ringer sale
Estimated personal net worth prior to The Ringer sale (not official; figure provided as a contextual estimate).
Founded Bill Simmons Media Group
Launched Bill Simmons Media Group in fall 2015 as the parent for his future projects and podcasts.
ESPN announced it would not renew Simmons' contract
On May 8, 2015 ESPN stated Simmons' contract (expiry Sept 2015) would not be renewed.
Left ESPN effective immediately
On May 15, 2015 it was announced that Simmons would no longer be working at ESPN, effective immediately.
Signed multi-platform deal with HBO
Announced July 22, 2015 a deal with HBO starting October 2015 that included a weekly talk show.
Grantland shut down by ESPN
ESPN shut down Grantland on Oct 30, 2015, months after not renewing Simmons' contract.
Announced The Ringer
Announced launch of The Ringer as part of Bill Simmons Media Group.
The Ringer went live
The Ringer website and podcast network launched publicly on June 1, 2016.
HBO premiere of 'Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons'
Weekly talk show premiered June 22, 2016 as part of Simmons' HBO deal.
HBO cancelled 'Any Given Wednesday'
Show was cancelled in November 2016 after one season; multimedia deal with HBO continued for other projects.
Vox Media ad & platform partnership for The Ringer
Vox Media entered a revenue sharing agreement to provide ad sales and platform services; Simmons retained editorial control.
HBO aired André the Giant documentary co-produced by Bill Simmons group
Documentary (directed by Jason Hehir) co-produced by HBO Sports, WWE and the Bill Simmons Media Group aired on April 10, 2018.
Simmons Family Foundation / Northwestern Medill scholarship gift (approx.)
Simmons and family established the Simmons Family Foundation and made a scholarship gift to Medill to support HBCU graduates (Wikipedia notes this; exact date not provided in source).
Spotify acquired The Ringer for approximately $200M
On Feb 5, 2020 Simmons announced Spotify's acquisition of The Ringer for ~USD 200 million; editorial independence maintained.
Criticism over lack of racial diversity at The Ringer
In June 2020 Simmons faced criticism following comments to The New York Times and questions about Ringer staffing practices.
NYT investigation into The Ringer workplace culture
The New York Times published an investigation (Sept 1, 2021) alleging attempts to marginalize the union and other workplace issues.
Controversy over comment about Jalen Green
Simmons drew criticism for saying '...fuck Jalen Green' when discussing All-Rookie selections; later clarified, then hosted Green on podcast May 24, 2022.
Hosted Jalen Green on The Bill Simmons Podcast to clear the air
Simmons had Jalen Green on his podcast to discuss and resolve the April controversy.
Criticized Prince Harry & Meghan; called them 'grifters'
In June 2023 Simmons criticized the couple and their Spotify/Archewell $20M deal, calling them 'fucking grifters' in public comments.
Public reports estimate net worth ~USD 100M (media estimate)
Subsequent media profiles and aggregators have cited an estimated net worth around USD 100M as of 2024.
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