Bill Simmons and ESPN to Part Ways

Photo Bill Simmons’s contract with ESPN expires at the end of September. Credit Joe Murphy/NBAE via/Getty Images Bill Simmons, who built a personal empire at ESPN and is one of America’s most influential sports personalities, will leave the media giant when his contract expires in the fall. The announcement came with startling abruptness Friday morning after months of negotiations failed to produce a contract extension for Simmons. He has more than four months left on his current contract.

“I’ve decided that I’m not going to renew his contract,” John Skipper, the president of ESPN, said in a telephone interview. “We’ve been talking to Bill and his agent, and it was clear we weren’t going to…