The soccer star Abby Wambach also excelled despite the limitations of the show. And an episode featuring Bob Costas and Al Michaels served as a reminder of what a terrific host Costas had once been at HBO.

Simmons was best at commentaries on issues, as in a segment about a failed referendum to fund a new stadium for the San Diego Chargers. Augmented by video and animation, the commentaries showcased witty, snarky writing.

HBO remains invested in its former host in a way it was not when it canceled Joe Buck’s show after three episodes in 2009. Simmons will most likely return with another HBO show that depends more on documentary work, like the “30 for 30” series, than on his on-air presence.

Simmons did not respond to a request by email to comment for this article.

The Ringer, with its garish green color scheme, is Simmons’s attempt to serve the audience that had flocked to Grantland. But although the new website, like the old one, is producing a mix of sports and popular-culture content, as well as coverage of politics and technology, Grantland’s fans are not rushing to The Ringer.

The Ringer, which launched in June and receives a small portion of its financial support from HBO, had 1.2 million unique visitors in July, according to comScore, which measures web traffic. That figure fell to 643,000 in August but rose slightly to 680,000 in September, the last month for which numbers are available. Grantland had 6.1 million visitors in October 2015, at the end of its four-year run.

The Grantland writing gang did not move en masse to The Ringer, either. Some writers followed Simmons, but a bunch of new staff members are writing articles that are shorter than those that appeared on Grantland, where word counts routinely reached into the thousands. The shift reflects the evolving needs of fans who lack the time or desire to scroll through 7,500-word features on their smartphones.

Still, the most conspicuous absence is Simmons’s written voice. He has published only a few columns on The Ringer, perhaps because of his focus on the HBO show.