Michael Irvin to join Undisputed along with Keyshawn Johnson, Richard Sherman

Michael Irvin has been off air since Super Bowl week

Michael Irvin has been off the air since early in Super Bowl week in February. The NFL Network pulled him from their coverage after a woman. who worked at a Phoenix-area hotel, accused Irvin of making lewd comments and touching her without her consent. She also said he told her he’d find her later in the week. Irwin was staying at the hotel.

Irvin denied the allegations and even filed a $100 million lawsuit against Marriott. Meanwhile, he also missed coverage of the NFL Draft. But now that the NFL is about to start the regular season. talks for the Undisputed opening started to heat up.

Irvin’s name has been connected to the Undisputed opening since at least early August. Sherman, the former Seattle Seahawk, was the first to sign. Then FS1 added Johnson. He lost his job as an NFL analyst when ESPN purged more than 20 employees from the payroll in June.

Undisputed adding panelists to focus less on debate

Meanwhile, FS1 was desperate to find a replacement for Sharpe, whp now will be part of ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith. And FS1 also is tweaking its format as the show comes off hiatus. There will be a bigger emphasis on discussion and less adversarial debate.

“It’s not like the debate part of sports television is going away because debate is intrinsic in sports conversations,” Charlie Dixon, executive VP of content for FS1, said. “I just feel like with the audience, and where America is as a consumer right now, there’s enough strife going on in everybody’s day-to-day that doesn’t have to just be debate.”

The addition of more panelists also encourages more discussion as opposed to one-on-one debate.

“We focus more on the chemistry and the availability of agreeing with people versus trying to find inflection points where people have a variance of opinions,” Dixon said. “It gives us more opportunity to have bigger conversations and go deeper into conversations, versus coming in with an in-the-moment take that is either going to be right or wrong.”