On Sept. 6, 2016, Fox Sports 1 (FS1) would launch into a new era for the three-year-old network with the debut of its debate show, Undisputed, starring Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. Bayless was known for his outlandish style of ruthless sports debate and the person who alongside Stephen A. Smith grew First Take on ESPN and sports talk debate into what it is today. Sharpe meanwhile, is a three-time Super Bowl champion and NFL Hall of Famer.

Undisputed was put together to be one of the cornerstones of FS1, a network trying to compete with ESPN as THE cable channel for sports television. FS1 had already brought on Colin Cowherd from The Four Letter Network a year earlier to anchor a live, three-hour, tv simulcast of his radio show, The Herd with Colin Cowherd. Bayless coming over, with Sharpe, was FS1’s second-biggest acquisition in that time period alongside Cowherd.

For nearly seven years, Sharpe proved to be a worthy debate partner for Bayless. Not only could Sharpe bring a different perspective on football since he played the game, but he was well versed in other sports, including basketball and boxing. The former tight end was not afraid to challenge the former journalist, and the debates the two had made for legendary television.

Fast forward to the fall of 2022, and Undisputed had never been more popular. Bayless and Sharpe were not near First Take in terms of ratings, but Undisputed had reached its all-time high ratings mark and was THE show on the network.

Then, on Dec. 12, 2022, everything changed.

It was a Monday morning following a jam-packed NFL Football Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by the man who was seen by everybody in the sports world as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), Tom Brady, had just come off a humiliating 35-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The GOAT struggled throughout the contest, as he had been all season. Bayless, the biggest defender of the GOAT out there, refused to put the blame on Brady. Sharpe backed Bayless into a corner, asking him why he would not blame Brady for the poor performance. Bayless would fire back, telling Sharpe he’s jealous Brady is still playing at age 45 while Sharpe is sitting next to him.

That comment by Bayless clearly crossed a line, as Sharpe took off his glasses and emotionally told Bayless he wasn’t a bum and he’s “in the F’in’ Hall of Fame.”

The incident clearly was a moment Sharpe could not forgive Bayless for, as their relationship would only deteriorate from there. The duo had another viral moment during one of the first days of 2023, as Sharpe would no-show an Undisputed show for the first time the night after the Damar Hamlin incident due to this tweet/post from Bayless.

When Sharpe returned to Undisputed, he wanted to address his absence, but Bayless interrupted him, causing another argument between the duo that moderator Jen Hale had to interrupt.

The tension between Bayless and Sharpe was palpable watching at home and a split at some point felt inevitable unless the two stars were able to somehow bury the hatchet. On Tuesday, June 13, following the Denver Nuggets winning the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat, Sharpe signed off of Fox Sports and Undisputed at the end of the show with an emotional goodbye to the FS1 staff and Bayless.

What happened next was the beginning of the end for Bayless and FS1.

After taking the summer off, Bayless would return to a revamped Undisputed on Aug. 28, 2023. Gone was Hale as moderator, a role Bayless himself would take over. Replacing Sharpe would be a rotating guest of analysis, the same way Smith has conducted First Take since 2021.

During the football season, the “God Father of Debate” would go toe-to-toe with the likes of former No. 1 overall pick Keyshawn Johnson, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and former All-Pro Cornerback Richard Sherman. Johnson, alongside former 2008 NBA Champion Paul Pierce, NBA Reporter Rachel Nichols, and FS1 NBA Analyst Ric Bucher, would join Bayless on a rotating panel during the NBA Season. Bayless’ good friend and popular rapper Lil’ Wayne, who conducted the theme song for both versions of the show, also joined Undisputed on Fridays during the last half hour.

The new Undisputed struggled right out of the gate and by February 2024, saw record-low ratings of 50,000. For comparison, the show that featured Sharpe and Bayless’ argument over Brady saw a record 500,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, Sharpe has grown to be a media star. His podcast – Club Shay Shay – currently has 3.44 million subscribers on YouTube. Bayless’ podcast, The Skip Bayless Show, has 171,000 subscribers on the same platform. The former seventh-round pick from Savannah State University also joins Bayless’ former debate partner in Smith on First Take every Monday and Tuesday year round, and the juggernaut on ESPN would beat Undisputed in the ratings by 10 times as much by the time Undisputed aired its last show on Aug. 2, 2024.

After the said last show on Aug. 2, Bayless announced his rumored departure from FS1.

While Bayless has continued to do his podcast weekly and claims he is now “free of TV bosses with hidden agendas”, FS1 has now entered in a new era: The Era of No Debate.

Going into last fall, here was FS1’s daily sports lineup (all times are in Eastern Standard Time)

• The Carton Show (7-9:30 a.m.) — Hosted by Craig Carton and David Jacoby, mixed in rotating analyst of Victor Cruz, Willie Colon and Amani Toomer.

• Undisputed (9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.) — Hosted by Skip Bayless, features a mix of rotating analysis, including Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Richard Sherman, Rachel Nickols, Paul Pierce and Ric Bucher.

• The Herd with Colin Cowherd (12-3 p.m.) — Hosted by Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre

• First Things First (3-4:30 p.m.) — Hosted by Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes

• Speak (4:30-6 p.m.) — Hosted by Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy and Joy Taylor, mixed in rotating analysis of James Jones, Ric Bucher and Dave Helman

Launching Sept. 3, the network revamped three of its daily sports talk shows, including one completely brand new:

• Breakfast Ball (8-10 a.m.) — Hosted by Craig Carton, Danny Parkins and Mark Schlereth

• The Facility (10 a.m.-12 p.m.) — Hosted by Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones and Chase Daniels.

• The Herd with Colin Cowherd (12-3 p.m.) — Hosted by Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre

• First Things First (3-5 p.m.) — Hosted by Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes

• Speak (5-7 p.m.) — Hosted by Joy Taylor, Paul Pierce and Keyshawn Johnson, mixed in rotating analysis of Michael Irvin so far for football season.

Carton’s show was basically a demotion for the former New York radio talk show host, who now isn’t even the leader of his own show, as the former offensive lineman in Schlereth gets the crew in and out of segments. Most of the segments are old stables of The Carton Show. First Things First and Speak were both expanded to two hours. Speak is essentially Undisputed without Bayless.

The network’s new show, The Facility, is a 180 from Undisputed. The tagline of the show is, “Less Debate, More Discussion,” and even features play breakdowns. The show is hosted by all former recent retirees from the NFL and features more nuisance NFL discussion, including real play breakdowns.

The shift in programming from FS1 signals a new wave of sports coverage from the network. They are not trying to compete with the Four Letter Network whose headquarters are located in Connecticut. Instead, the company whose headquarters are in Los Angeles, CA, are trying to present an alternative to the former.

Both The Herd and First Things First saw record viewership last year in the afternoon while Undisputed’s show saw the lowest of lows. That probably has a lot to do with the change, but will it work?

The Facility, while an alternative to First Take, is still going head-to-head directly in the same time slot as the most popular debate show on sports TV. I tried to give the new shot a shot, but there’s too many cooks in the kitchen, and as a fan of Bayless and the “Embrace Debate” format of sports television, it’s not my cup of tea, and my guess is it won’t be for lots of others either.

What is the bar for The Facility? If it gets the same ratings that Undisputed did, is that a win? You could make the argument yes due to the fact FS1 is paying the four hosts a significantly less amount than Bayless, but to me, it feels as if FS1 is punting on its vision. It waved the white flag at ESPN. It’s just now trying to survive.

Cowherd’s contract is up at the end of football season. If Cowherd leaves FS1, is Wright the new face of the network? Undoubtedly yes, but can Wright, as much as his stature has grown with First Things First, carry FS1? That remains to be seen.

Can Carton, Parkins and Schlerith stabilize FS1’s morning slot enough to be an alternative to ESPN’s Get Up? I’m assuming that’s a question the network also wants answered since it essentially kicked Carton out of the hosting chair.

When FS1 first launched in 2013, it wanted to compete against the Big Boys in Bristol, CT. When the network signed Cowherd and Bayless, they showed they were serious. Now, with the departure of Bayless and the looming potential exit of Cowherd with a completely revamped daily programming schedule, while FS1 has become a well-known sports network, it feels like it has lost the war against ESPN.