Both Bill Simmons and ESPN gain from his suspension

I was chatting with my colleague Erik Wemple today about his great piece on ESPN's suspension of superstar Bill Simmons , when I joked that I would not be surprised if we later learned that the whole kerfuffle had been cooked up in advance. The entire cycle of events - Simmons goes in on National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell and his recent handling of the league's domestic violence cases in deliberately intemperate terms, Simmons dares his employer to take action, ESPN responds by suspending him for three weeks - seemed perfectly designed to meet the particular branding needs of both Simmons and the corporate behemoth he works for.

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