Overview
- Stephen A. Smith announced on Friday that Skip Bayless will join him every Friday on Smith’s SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio show and will appear on First Take on the last Friday of each month in a recurring, part-time role.
- The arrangement is explicitly not a full-time hire and reduces Bayless’s on-air frequency compared with his daily role on First Take from 2012–2016.
- During the September 11 appearance Bayless publicly corroborated Smith’s account of the 2012 Cari Champion hiring dispute by answering no when asked if Smith had lied about the events.
- Bayless is expected to use the renewed ESPN platform to promote his relaunched Gridiron project with Aqib Talib and other digital efforts, giving him national TV exposure without a daily commitment.
- The reunion follows a one-day May appearance and comes after recent First Take staff changes this summer; some outlets report Bayless’s next televised First Take date as Sept. 25, 2026, though that date remains reported rather than formally confirmed by ESPN.