Skip Bayless Set to Exit Fox Sports’ ‘Undisputed’

Looks like there will soon be room for argument on Fox Sports 1’s signature program “Undisputed.”

Skip Bayless, the longtime sports commentator who left a role on ESPN’s hot-talk showcase “First Take” in 2016 to co-anchor a similar concept at Fox Sports, is expected to leave the network sometime after the end of the summer, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Fox Sports declined to make executives available for comment. The New York Post previously reported Bayless’ expected exit.

Bayless’ departure comes a little more than a year after the exit of co-host Shannon Sharpe, who has since landed a role, in all places, at “First Take.”

“Undisputed” has faced headwinds since Sharpe’s exit. It has coalesced into more of a roundtable program, with a less distinct central personality. Bayless hosts with a rotating group of panelists that typically includes Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Richard Sherman, Rachel Nichols and Paul Pierce. The assemblage has not proven as popular with viewers as the back-and-forth of Sharpe and Bayless.

Bayless has enjoyed a long career in sports TV. As he gained notice by working stints working as a sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Times-Herald and The Chicago Tribune, Bayless also found his way to other media, including the Dallas radio station KLIF; ESPN Radio’s “The Fabulous Sports Babe”; and his own bespoke radio program. In 1989, he joined ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” as a panelist, and subsequently worked frequently with popular sports broadcaster Jim Rome. He joined ESPN full time in 2004, first taking part in a debate segment on the ESPN2 program “Cold PIzza,” which eventually became the template for “First Take.”