Less than two months after ESPN signed Pat McAfee to a $17 million deal to bring his daily show to "The World Wide Leader," the company's biggest names, including Stephen A. Smith, openly lobbied for free-agent Shannon Sharpe to join the fold. Although ESPN remains the standard in sports media, their wave of firings in the past three years has created an opportunity for their primary competitors at Fox Sports to close the gap. According to reports, Rachel Nichols has agreed to join Skip Bayless, her former colleague at ESPN, on Undisputed, the flagship program for FS1. The former host of The Jump will be a part of a rotation of debate partners for Skip that includes Richard Sherman and Lil Wayne. Executive producers at FS1 are expected to add another big name to the fold. They have reportedly narrowed their choices down to Michael Irvin and Keyshawn Johnson, who previously worked at ESPN.
Source: nypost.com
