If you were on the edge of your seat waiting to see who would replace Shannon Sharpe on Undisputed, you’ll have to wait a little longer. Recently the show’s host, Skip Bayless, sent out a tweet announcing that it would go on a summer hiatus, writing, “LeBron isn’t the only one in the lab this summer. Can’t wait to unveil Undisputed just in time for football season.”
For more traditional daytime and primetime talk shows, these kinds of summer breaks aren’t unheard of. In the sports world, you tend to see regular hosts take extended vacations, not the entire production taking time off. Since the only big sports competing in the summer are Major League Baseball, the WNBA and the Women’s World Cup, all topics that don’t get much time on major sports networks, this seems like a good time for Skip to take a long vacation. It’s also worth noting that the World Cup airs on Fox Sports and would probably preempt the show quite a bit. However, Front Office Sports is reporting that there’s actually more to the story than just a summer break.
According to the outlet’s sources, the hiatus is actually the result of the show’s difficulty finding a replacement for former host Sharpe. He left Undisputed back in June, saying an emotional goodbye to Bayless and the show’s crew. Now, it appears no one at FS1 is in a rush to take his place. In addition to several high-profile names recently laid off at ESPN, Fox Sports has plenty of knowledgeable, talented personalities who would do a great job on the daily sports debate talk show. However, it’s being rumored that Skip and the network can’t seem to agree on a new host. Bayless has “the final say on everything internally at Undisputed,” which creates an instant imbalance with any future co-host. It also doesn’t help that the 71-year-old has a reputation for being difficult, as he and Shannon had multiple headline-making tense arguments during their time together.
On his podcast, Bayless said he wanted NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley to be his new co–host. “Charles Barkley would be my dream debate partner on Undisputed,” he said. “Please, Charles, please come and please work with me, this ‘damn idiot.’ What a joy it would be to do battle every day with Charles Barkley live on television.”
Despite Skip’s pleas, Barkley’s new weekly CNN talk show with Gayle King and TNT commitments makes him joining Undisputed seem unlikely.
Skip Bayless has been doing this long enough that he has certainly earned the right to be in control of his own show. But if he wants to keep evolving and get better, he’s going to have to make some tough decisions and probably give up some of that control to get the best person sitting across from him every day. And you can’t drag out this hiatus too long, because sports fans will find a new favorite debate show and forget all about you.