# Bill Simmons
**Bill Simmons** (born 1969) is an American sports writer, podcaster, and media entrepreneur who rose to prominence as ESPN's "Sports Guy," founded the websites Grantland and [The Ringer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ringer-website), and helped shape the modern sports podcast. He is the founder and managing director of The Ringer, which he launched in 2016 and which Spotify acquired in 2020 for about $250 million; he hosts "The Bill Simmons Podcast" and "The Rewatchables" and has served as head of podcast innovation and monetization for Spotify.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969, Marlborough, Massachusetts; grew up in Marlborough, Brookline, and Stamford, Connecticut |
| Breakthrough | BostonSportsGuy.com, begun in 1997 on AOL's Digital Cities site, led to a part-time ESPN offer in 2001 |
| ESPN era | Columnist (2001–2015), host of "The B.S. Report" podcast (launched 2007, about 2 million downloads a month by 2015), co-creator of the "30 for 30" documentary series |
| Grantland | Founded 2011 as editor-in-chief; ESPN shut the site down after Simmons's departure in 2015 |
| The Ringer | Launched June 2016 with an HBO investment; Spotify acquired it in 2020 for about $250 million |
| Books | *Now I Can Die in Peace* (2004) and *The Book of Basketball* (2009), both best-sellers, the latter a No. 1 New York Times best-seller |
| Recent | Netflix began streaming full episodes of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," "The Rewatchables," and other Ringer shows in 2026 |
## The Boston Sports Guy
Simmons's stated ambition was a newspaper column: he was a high school sports writer for the [Boston Herald](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-herald) in the mid-1990s, but judged the path blocked by veterans unlikely to leave their posts and pivoted to the internet[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/). Writing from AOL's Digital Cities site beginning in 1997, he developed a first-person, fan's-perspective style built on pop-culture references rather than locker-room access. "I had to figure out a way to write the column in a way I could pull the reader where I was when I wasn't going into locker rooms," he told ABC News[2](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/bill-simmons-sports-guy-talks-website-basketball-jesus/story?id=13801530). The BostonSportsGuy.com site averaged 10,000 daily visitors, and its traffic became his springboard to ESPN[3](https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2022/04/com-365-2022-single-page.pdf).
Time described the innovation plainly: when he began writing for AOL in 1997, blogging conventions did not yet exist, and his stream-of-consciousness, unabashedly partisan style won readers and spawned imitators[4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/).
## ESPN and Grantland
ESPN noticed Simmons while he was writing BostonSportsGuy.com, and he joined the network in 2001, rebranded as The Sports Guy[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html). He branched into podcasts and television: his "B.S. Report" podcast launched in 2007, and by 2015 it averaged 2 million downloads a month; he also appeared on ESPN's NBA coverage, including "NBA Countdown"[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html) • [1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/).
His most durable ESPN creation came from an idea for a documentary series marking the network's thirtieth anniversary. "30 for 30," films about stories that occurred after ESPN's 1979 inception, became an award-winning franchise that ESPN continued funding beyond the anniversary[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html) • [4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/).
In 2011 he launched Grantland.com, an ESPN-owned sports and pop culture site named for the sportswriter [Grantland Rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/grantland-rice), and served as its editor-in-chief[6](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-simmons/). The site brought in prominent writers including [Chuck Klosterman](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-klosterman) and [Malcolm Gladwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/malcolm-gladwell)[2](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/bill-simmons-sports-guy-talks-website-basketball-jesus/story?id=13801530). Simmons's influence inside ESPN extended beyond his own properties: he led the effort that brought statistician Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight under ESPN's banner in 2013[4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/).
The relationship soured. In September 2014 ESPN suspended him for three weeks after he called NFL commissioner [Roger Goodell](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-goodell) a "liar" on his podcast over the [Ray Rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-rice) domestic-abuse scandal, and dared management to punish him[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html) • [4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/). In May 2015, ESPN president John Skipper announced the network would not renew Simmons's contract, which expired in September; the Globe called him perhaps the most coveted free agent in the history of sports media[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html). Grantland was shuttered soon after his departure[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/).
## The Ringer and Spotify
Simmons founded The Ringer, which debuted in June 2016[7](https://www.theringer.com/creator/bill-simmons). Within months of leaving ESPN he had a deal with HBO to host the weekly talk show *Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons* and to develop future projects, with HBO investing in the new company[3](https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2022/04/com-365-2022-single-page.pdf). The site set itself apart from Grantland by giving equal emphasis to podcasts alongside its writing[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/).
He imported much of his Grantland leadership team: [Sean Fennessey](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-fennessey) as head of content, Juliet Litman as head of production, [Chris Ryan](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-ryan) as editorial director, and Mallory Rubin as head of editorial[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/). The Ringer covers major sports and pop culture with the same depth, an approach Simmons summarized as "Let's cover it like we cover the NBA"[3](https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2022/04/com-365-2022-single-page.pdf).
Spotify acquired The Ringer in 2020 for about $250 million, a deal that made Simmons, as Sports Business Journal put it, a key architect of the podcast boom[8](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/12/08/influence-125-bill-simmons-espnthe-ringer/). In 2025 Spotify and Netflix announced a video-podcast partnership under which Netflix streams full episodes of Ringer shows including "The Bill Simmons Podcast" and "The Rewatchables" starting in 2026[9](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/14/netflix-spotify-video-podcasts-the-ringer).
## Writing and television work
Simmons has worked across formats. His two books, *Now I Can Die in Peace* (2004) and *The Book of Basketball* (2009), the latter a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, grew out of his column and podcast obsessions[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1270185/bio/). As a producer he co-created "30 for 30," created the HBO series "Music Box," and served as executive producer on Netflix's *Mr. McMahon* docuseries and HBO's *Celtics City*[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1270185/bio/). His HBO talk show *Any Given Wednesday* (2016) drew mixed reviews; TIME's reviewer found his delivery stiff but acknowledged his long record building Grantland and The Ringer[11](https://time.com/4379557/review-bill-simmons-hbo-any-given-wednesday/).
## Style and influence
Simmons re-imagined sports writing from the fan's point of view, trading neutrality for emotion and energy, a stance that made him a template for founder-led media brands that followed[4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/). His B.S. Report guests ranged from President Barack Obama to [Lena Dunham](https://www.edgepedia.org/lena-dunham) and [Jon Hamm](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-hamm), and his audience followed him from ESPN to The Ringer[4](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/). In Complex's 2026 sports media power ranking he placed fourth among media figures[12](https://www.complex.com/bets/a/matt-burke/sports-media-power-ranking-rerank-readers-list).
In September 2026 the Massachusetts Gaming Commission opened a review after Simmons said on a podcast that he had asked his daughter's boyfriend, who lives in Boston, to place bets on his FanDuel account; proxy betting is illegal in Massachusetts, and FanDuel voided the bets. Simmons said he did not know proxy betting was not allowed and that he had "learned my lesson"[13](https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/09/02/bill-simmons-massachusetts-probe-proxy-sports-bets).
## References
1. [4SE: The Ringer, Sports Business Journal (2023)](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/23/the-ringer/)
2. [Bill Simmons: 'The Sports Guy' Talks About His New Website, ABC News (2011)](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/bill-simmons-sports-guy-talks-website-basketball-jesus/story?id=13801530)
3. [Voice of the Fan course PDF, Boston University College of Communication (2022)](https://www.bu.edu/com/files/2022/04/com-365-2022-single-page.pdf)
4. [3 Reasons Bill Simmons Leaving ESPN Is a Big Deal, TIME (2015)](https://time.com/3852202/bill-simmons-leaving-espn/)
5. [ESPN cutting ties with Mass. native Bill Simmons, The Boston Globe (2015)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/08/bill-simmons-espn-parting-ways/SfbuSowU6z5SMMxeonn5KM/story.html)
6. [Bill Simmons - Writer, Podcaster, Producer](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bill-simmons/)
7. [Bill Simmons, The Ringer creator page](https://www.theringer.com/creator/bill-simmons)
8. [Influence 125: Bill Simmons, ESPN/The Ringer, Sports Business Journal (2025)](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/12/08/influence-125-bill-simmons-espnthe-ringer/)
9. [Netflix partners with Spotify for video podcasts, Axios (2025)](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/14/netflix-spotify-video-podcasts-the-ringer)
10. [Bill Simmons Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1270185/bio/)
11. [Review: HBO's Any Given Wednesday, TIME (2016)](https://time.com/4379557/review-bill-simmons-hbo-any-given-wednesday/)
12. [Sports Media Power Ranking: How the Readers' List Differs From Ours, Complex (2026)](https://www.complex.com/bets/a/matt-burke/sports-media-power-ranking-rerank-readers-list)
13. [Bill Simmons under investigation in Mass. over proxy bets, Axios Boston (2026)](https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2026/09/02/bill-simmons-massachusetts-probe-proxy-sports-bets)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Online creators and internet personalities › Podcasters and podcasts*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license