The Shannon Sharpe Effect is very real. Viewership figures from September 12 show that First Take received 717,000 viewers. By comparison, Undisputed, Sharpe's former workplace, received 118,000 viewers on the same day. While First Take has always had an edge on Undisputed, the schism has grown substantially since Sharpe's departure in June.
Furthermore, the Sharpe Effect appears to only be growing. Even before Sharpe debuted on First Take on September 4, the numerical evidence was already there. When Undisputed came back from its summer hiatus, it premiered to an audience of 131,000. That dropped to 78,000 viewers by the middle of Undisputed's first week back on the air. As Sharpe settles into his role at First Take, it's likely that the gap is only going to continue to grow.
Sharpe Showing His Worth
Furthermore, all of this comes amid some bombshell claims about Sharpe's exit from Stephen A. Smith. Speaking with Joe Budden, Smith spoke about how his dream collaboration came to be. Smith claimed that he doesn't view his acquisition of Shannon Sharpe as poaching or anything like that because Sharpe "didn't leave of his own volition". It's the first major behind-the-scenes claim about the atmosphere at Undisputed prior to Sharpe's departure. Now it appears to be costing Undisputed as the show's ratings flag. People were clearly watching for Sharpe and not Bayless over the last seven-and-a-half years.
However, it makes sense. It's an open secret at this point that Skip Bayless has been seeking more and more control over his flagship show at FS1. It's likely that Bayless wanted Sharpe out so that he could restructure the show to once again put himself at the top of the pecking order. This is supported by the fact several people were considered and rejected to replace Sharpe and most were rejected on the basis that they would be too much of an equal opponent for Bayless. Instead, Bayless reportedly wants easy wins when it comes to his debate partners.
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