 | |
Type of site | Blog |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 2003; 22 years ago (September 2003) Milton, Massachusetts |
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner | Dave Portnoy |
| Founder | Dave Portnoy |
| URL | barstoolsports |
Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in Chicago that publishessports journalism andpop culture-related content. It is owned byDave Portnoy, who founded the company in 2003 inMilton, Massachusetts.
Barstool began in 2003 as a weekly print publication distributed for free at transit stops in theBoston metropolitan area that offered gambling advertisements andfantasy sports projections but later expanded to encompass other topics. It launched on the Internet in 2007.[1][2] The site was headquartered in Milton, Massachusetts, identifiable with a cardboard sign with the site's name written in ballpoint pen.[1]
Portnoy hired Kevin Clancy in 2009 and launched Barstool New York, the blog's first major move outside the Boston area. Barstool ceased publication of the print version in 2010 and transitioned to a web-only model.[1]
In August 2011, the site received criticism over nude photos ofAmerican footballquarterbackTom Brady's two-year-old son, which was accompanied by comments saying the child had a "howitzer", which a former prosecutor suggested wassexualization of a minor.[3] Portnoy argued that the comments were meant to be humorous in tone and were not intended to be seen as sexual.[3]
The satirical nature of the site means that some comments have sparked debate including a post on a 2010 blog in which Portnoy said, "Even though I never condone rape if you're a size 6 and you're wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?"[4]
Other elements that have received criticism as College humour gone too far include comments such as "we don't condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties ... however if a chick passes out that's a gray area".[5] Portnoy, in response, has stated that, "...It's not our intent, with jokes, to poke fun at rape victims," while pointing out the satirical nature of the site's content.[6] ANortheastern University protest group calledKnockout Barstool held a demonstration outside of a 2012 Blackout party at Boston'sHouse of Blues.[7] Portnoy has been openly dismissive of the protest group, referring to them as "serial protesters", "nutbags" and "crazy bitches".[4][5][8]
By 2013, Barstool Sports had expanded to five cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago, with a university-focused BarstoolU brand. Each franchise had its own editorial staff and voice and operated autonomously from the main Barstool Sports blog. The blogger team published around 70 to 80 posts each weekday. According toEntrepreneur.com in December 2013, more than four million unique users visited Barstool monthly, with over 80 million page views.[1]
In 2011 and 2012, the BarstoolU brand ran the "Barstool Blackout Tour," a series of electronic dance parties with as many as 2,500 attendees at venues in cities and college towns on the East Coast and in the Midwest.[9] The parties were criticized for promotingexcessive drinking and allowingunderage drinking, as well as four assaults that have happened at the proceedings.[10] In February 2012, Boston mayorThomas M. Menino expressed concern through a spokesperson over the parties' promotion of "excessive drinking to the point ofblacking out" and that such promotion would not be a good message for the city.[10]Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission agents and club security at aHouse of Blues event in Boston the following month confiscated 300 fake identifications and refused admission for around three-fourths of the event's 2000 ticket holders.[11] Shortly thereafter Portnoy announced that the company would not be scheduling more of the events in Boston, stating that "it just doesn't seem like Boston is friendly to nightlife of our sort, at least".[11]
By 2016, Barstool claimed to pull in 250 million views per month.[12] On January 7, 2016, private equity firmThe Chernin Group (TCG) purchased a 51% majority stake in Barstool Sports, valuing the company at between $10 and $15 million.[12][13][14] According to Chernin Group president of digital Mike Kerns, Kerns was put in contact with Portnoy via mutual friend and formerUniversity of Kentucky quarterbackJared Lorenzen. After an initial phone call, Kerns flew to Boston to have dinner with Portnoy, discuss the Barstool vision, and begin preliminary investment talks.[15]
Following the TCG investment, the company moved its headquarters from Boston to New York City. Portnoy continued to run the site and retained complete creative control as Chief of Content. On July 19, 2016,Erika Nardini, former chief marketing officer of AOL, was announced as the CEO of Barstool Sports.[12] In 2020, Chernin relinquished control of Barstool as part of the Penn National Gaming partnership. Also in 2016, Barstool bought Old Row Sports, another sports blog, for an estimated $10 to US$15 million.[16]
During the week ofSuper Bowl LI, Barstool broadcast a televised version ofThe Barstool Rundown live from Houston onComedy Central.[17] The show made headlines on February 2, 2017, afterIndianapolis ColtspunterPat McAfee announced during a segment of that night's episode that he was retiring from the NFL to become a contributor to the site.[18] On June 19, 2017, the site announced thatMichael Rapaport would be joining Barstool Sports and hosting a podcast.[19] Rapaport and Barstool quickly ended their relationship in a public feud involvingKevin Durant.[20]
On October 18,Barstool Van Talk debuted onESPN2. The show starredPardon My Take personalitiesPFT Commenter and Dan "Big Cat" Katz. It was canceled after one episode, withESPN Inc. presidentJohn Skipper citing concerns about distinguishing the content of Barstool from that of ESPN.[21] The show's removal came after past statements from Barstool president Dave Portnoy resurfaced, one of which involved calling current ESPN employeeSam Ponder a "slut".[22][23][24]
Following a fundraising round reported in January, Barstool is said to have received a valuation of $100 million. CEO Erika Nardini said The Chernin Group has invested $25 million in the website.[25] On February 18,Michael Rapaport was fired after making a derogatory comment towards the site's fan-base.[26]
On March 28, 2018, NBA playerFrank Kaminsky launched a Barstool podcast,Pros and Joes, hosted by himself and three high-school friends.[27]
According toVox, Barstool generated between $90 and $100 million in revenue in 2019, with the majority from podcasts, merchandise sales, and gambling deals. On January 29, 2020,casino companyPenn National Gaming purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $135 million in cash and $28 million inpreferred stock, valuing Barstool at $450 million. Penn National would have the option to pay an additional $62 million in 3 years to increase its stake to 50%. Penn's investment was seen as part of a growing trend of gambling and media companies to partner to capitalize on the anticipated boom inonline gambling after theU.S. Supreme Court allowed sports betting inMurphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.[28][29][30] Following the sale, The Chernin Group maintained a 36% stake in the company.[31]
The company subsequently launched Barstool Sportsbook, amobile application for sports betting, in Pennsylvania on September 18, 2020. During its first week of operation, it handled $11 million in wagers. In January 2021, the company announced that the Sportsbook would expand to Michigan. Penn National announced that they would be matching all first-time deposits by donating to the Barstool Fund, raising a total of $4,550,280 for Michigan small businesses.[32][33][34]
On July 27, 2021, Barstool Sports became the new title sponsor of theArizona Bowl and would have exclusive international broadcast rights. The 2021 edition of the game was canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, but the game was played in 2022.[35][36] and featured various Barstool Sports media personalities on commentary and in on-field roles.[37]
Under Penn's ownership, Barstool experienced a wave of criticism from its audience over inflammatory and politically charged content. Most of the content in question was posted in support of controversial progressive social causes during the 2020 civil unrest. Perhaps the most noteworthy example was a June 2020 episode of the "Schnitt Talk" podcast where a guest explicitly encouraged listeners to "burn down a police precinct". Host Ellie Schnitt excitedly responded by saying "I agree with that".[38] The episode was followed by weeks of intense backlash from the company's audience, as well as a rebuke from Portnoy (a staunch supporter of first responders). Schnitt left the company in September 2020.[39][40]
In February 2023, Penn exercised its option to pay $388 million and become the sole owner of Barstool.[28]
On August 8, 2023, Dave Portnoy announced that Penn Entertainment had ended its relationship with Barstool Sports and had divested ownership of the company back to him. Penn had announced a $2 billion agreement with ESPN to rebrand Barstool Sportsbook asESPN Bet, and the sale was intended to relieve Penn of "non-compete and other restrictive covenants" tied to its ownership of Barstool. Portnoy stated, "The regulated industry is probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make". The agreement stipulates that Penn will receive 50% of the gross proceeds of any future sale of Barstool, but Portnoy stated that he planned to maintain his ownership of the site "till I die".[41][42]
An investigation conducted byThe Daily Beast was unveiled in September 2023 revealing that Barstool had operated more than 40sock puppet accounts, referred to by the investigation and by Barstool employees as "burner accounts", on Twitter to commit "organizedcopyright infringement".[43] The investigation, published by journalist Robert Silverman, found that these accounts were being used by Barstool to avoid copyright strikes, and Barstool would embed videos and content from burner accounts into their own tweets to avoid DMCA strikes on the main Barstool accounts. One of these accounts reposted a video ofThe Weeknd's performance during theSuper Bowl LV halftime show, with Barstool embedding it within their own posts and gaining the reposted video 36 million views in less than 24 hours. Furthermore, the reposts often removed text so it would be harder for rightsholders to search for infringements. Silverman further alleged that Portnoy and other personalities such as Dan "Big Cat" Katz of Barstool podcastPardon My Take were involved or informed of this strategy, as Silverman cited an instance where after playingMC Hammer's song "U Can't Touch This", Katz said that "We're going to have to put this on a burner now."[43][44]Business Insider when coveringThe Daily Beast's investigation, remarked it as "latest example of Barstool Sports being accused of sharing content without crediting the creators", citing a 2018 settled lawsuit filed against the company by photographer Brigitte Stelzer and an earlier 2019Daily Beast investigation, also conducted by Silverman, where the creator of a blue monster character only was able to successfully gain compensation from Barstool for infringing his copyright after threatening litigation.[45][46]
On February 11, 2024, Barstool Sports andDraftKings finalized a multi-year sports betting media partnership after the Super Bowl and the termination of Barstool's non-compete with Penn. This deal kicked off with a live-streamed free-throw challenge event featuring Barstool talent, where viewers could win part of a $100,000 prize pool.[47] In January 2024, Barstool Sports announced that they are partnering withRumble.[48]
Some of Barstool's contributors played a role in spreading false claims about Mary Kate Cornett, a 19-year-old student at the University of Mississippi who was the subject of fake rumors that she slept with her boyfriend's father. WhilePat McAfee of ESPN was the primary figure behind spreading the rumors, Barstool's personalities including long time blogger Kevin Clancy[49][50] also perpetrated the rumors, and Portnoy would later comment that he regrets the role that his company would play in spreading "vicious" rumors. Barstool and Cornett's lawyers are planning to head to mediation.[51]
In July 2025,Fox Sports announced a "wide-ranging" content partnership with Barstool, under which it will produce a new studio show for itsFox Sports 1 cable channel, work with Fox on co-producing digital content, and have Portnoy and other Barstool contributors make appearances on its college football pre-game showBig Noon Kickoff.[52] The FS1 show,Wake Up Barstool, debuted on September 2, 2025.
Barstool was described as the "Bible of Bro Culture" and a must-read for the "dude zeitgeist" for its committed audience of young men, primarily in the 18–35 age demographic, who felt disenfranchised by the mainstream media.[1] Portnoy described the site's topics in 2011 as "sports/smut".[53] The site contains a mixture of podcasts, blogs, and video series featuring company staff in what has been described as "a sort of online reality show: Every office argument and personal-life development was written up and fed to a growing legion of 'Stoolies'."[54] The site is popular among professional athletes as well.Logan Couture claimed that a quarter of players in theNHL read Barstool.[1]
According toThe Daily Beast, Barstool has a culture of reposting content from independent content creators without attribution.[55] In March 2019, Barstool was accused by comedianMiel Bredouw of having reposted one of her videos to the site's Twitter account without attribution. After Bredouw eventually refused to rescind her complaint in exchange for $2,000, Barstool filed a counter-claim asking Twitter to reinstate the video, alleging that the take-down was an error.[56][57] Following the dispute, data fromSocial Blade revealed that on March 6, 2019, Barstool deleted over 60,000 posts from its Twitter account and 1,000 posts from itsInstagram account.[58]
Barstool owns Old Row, a sports blog it bought in 2016, and the company also operates Rough N Rowdy, an amateur wrestling contest.[59] Barstool also owns several food and beverage brands including Pink Whitney[60] and Stella Blue Coffee,[61] as well as several failed food and beverage brands that it no longer (or barely) operates such as Pirate Water[62] and Big Deal Brewing.[63]
Barstool operates various social media accounts, mostly known onInstagram, appointing students at colleges to run their respective accounts. The company further operates "Chicks" accounts, which are targeted towards a more feminine audience in contrast to how Barstool itself is male-targeted. Both Barstool and Chicks pages repost campus submissions, such as ones where students are encouraged to submit screenshots of chats from dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, Bumble.[64]
In January, the company premiered Barstool Radio, a daily two-hour show onSirius XM. The partnership expanded to a 24-hour channel in January 2018, which aired until January 2021.[65][66][67][68] Barstool returned to radio in February 2021 with a dailysports betting-themed show calledBarstool Sports: Picks Central, distributed byWestwood One.[69]
Barstool produces numerous podcasts, including programming fromDave Portnoy,Spittin' Chiclets,Pardon My Take, TheKirk Minihane Show, A New Untold Story, The Yak, Chicks in the Office, as well as podcasts from Barstool bloggers, professional athletes, and celebrities such asJosh Richards,Ryan Whitney,Paul Bissonnette,Colby Armstrong,Patrick Beverley,Arian Foster, andMark Titus.[70]
In 2018, Barstool acquired theCall Her Daddy podcast, along with hiring its co-hosts,Alex Cooper and Sofia Franklyn, which Cooper then took to Spotify in 2020.[71]
In November 2017, Barstool purchased the Rough N Rowdy Brawl, an amateur boxing competition held in West Virginia, to expand into live boxing events andpay-per-view. After the acquisition, Barstool created a new division called Barstool Brawl to put on as many as 12 events per year.[72] By the competition's second iteration after the Barstool acquisition in February 2018, it drew 41,000 buys.[73]
Barstool offersstreaming andVideo on Demand content, which is available onRoku,Amazon Fire TV,Apple TV, andAndroid TV.[74] In 2021, SLING TV announced an exclusive channel for Barstool Sports.[75] The Brandon Walker College Football Show featuring Brandon Walker was a live call-in show that was part of the Sling TV Barstool channel.[76]
Barstool currently has four brick-and-mortar bars inPhiladelphia ("Barstool Sansom");[77]Scottsdale, Arizona;[78]Chicago ("Barstool River North");[79] andNashville, Tennessee.[80]
In May 2025, there was an incident at the Barstool Samson bar in which a customer named Mohammed Adnan Khan purchased bottle service at the bar and requested a sign stating "Fuck the Jews."[81] Khan then posted the video onInstagram and garnered the attention of Dave Portnoy.[82] He was initially apologetic and agreed to educate himself onThe Holocaust by going toAuschwitz concentration camp inPoland,[82][83] but then reversed his stance and started aGiveSendGo campaign.[84][85] He further entrenched himself in his stance by going onTheStew Peters Show, a white nationalist internet show.[86] He was also suspended byTemple University[87] and was reported to have lost an internship; a second student was also suspended from Temple stemming from the incident.[88]
Portnoy is an active blogger on the site under his self-appointed "El Presidente" character. He is also known as "The Mogul" and "Davey Pageviews".[1] Barstool has both employed already famous personalities, notably former athletes, and developed nationally known personalities likeCall Her Daddy podcast hostAlex Cooper.
Notable current employees include:
Notable former employees include:
Several other figures have had stints with Barstool.
| Police | |
| Veterans | |
| Other |
| Date | Beneficiary | Donations from Merchandise Sales | Donation from Portnoy | Other | Total Donated | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2012 (Veterans Day) | Purchase wheelchair for U.S. Army medic who had lost limbs in Afghanistan | $15,000 | $15,000 | [1] | ||
| 2013 | Victims of theBoston Marathon bombing | $240,000 | $240,000 | [93][94] | ||
| April 2017 | Justin J. Watt Foundation | $55,000 fromPardon My Take listeners, $10,000 fromPat McAfee | $65,000 | [95] | ||
| July 2018 | Family ofWeymouth, Massachusetts police officer Michael Chesna | $149,461 | $149,461 | [96][97] | ||
| November 2019 (Veterans Day) | Veterans with mental health needs | $91,000 | $91,000 | $182,000 | [98] | |
| October 2022 | Family ofBristol police officers Dustin DeMonte and Alex Hamzy | ~$100,000 | ~$100,000 | [99] | ||
| February 2024 | LifeLine Animal Project | $277,000 | $277,000 | [100] | ||
| March 2024 | Family ofNYPD officerJonathan Diller | $750,000 | $750,000 | $1,500,000 | [101] | |
| April 2024 | Family ofOnondaga County Sheriff Lt. Michael Hoosock | $200,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 fromDana White | $600,000 | [101] |
The company partnered with NFL quarterbackBaker Mayfield in 2018 to release a clothing line benefitingSpecial Olympics Ohio.[102][103]
Due to Portnoy's consistent and longstanding support for first responders, Barstool's work on behalf of fallen police officers has received an overwhelmingly positive response from Barstool's audience and the law enforcement community. This was especially true of his work for Officer Jonathan Diller's widow, Stephanie. In addition to the $1.5 million raised for Diller's family,[104] Portnoy was invited to attend the annual NYPD gala as the guest of honor.[105] However, one notable exception occurred when longtime employee Kevin Clancy weighed in on Diller's murder.[106] Though he encouraged support for the company's efforts, Clancy received significant backlash from Barstool's largely pro-police audience[106] over his past support for the BLM/Defund the Police movement.[107][108]
The company launched "The Barstool Difference," a philanthropy arm pegged to its Barstool Fund in March 2022. The initiative consisted of four parts: one for women-run businesses, one for veteran-run businesses, one for youth service, and one for sobriety. Tonya Dressel of Microsoft's philanthropy effort, was hired to lead the initiative.[109]
In response to theCOVID-19 pandemic and related government restrictions, Barstool launched The Barstool Fund, a non-profit that provides financial support to small businesses affected by the pandemic.[110][111] The fund raised $41 million, supporting at least 167 small businesses.[109][112] On top of an initial $500,000 donation from Portnoy, celebrities such asTom Brady,Guy Fieri,Kid Rock,Aaron Rodgers andElon Musk donated to the fund.[113]
Barstool has several endeavors to benefit rescue animals, including through Miss Peaches, a rescue pitbull owned by Dave Portnoy, and through Stella Blue Coffee, a company jointly owned with the Pardon My Take host, Daniel "Big Cat" Katz. Dave Portnoy's dog, Miss Peaches, gained much publicity after he adopted the pitbull on February 14, 2024, enabling Portnoy to raise over $1 Million Dollars for various animal shelters.[114] Stella Blue Coffee has raised over $200,000.00 for the PAWS Chicago animal shelter. Dan Katz's dog, Stella, the namesake of the company, was adopted from the PAWS Chicago animal shelter.[115]
In August 2019, Barstool owner Dave Portnoy posted a series of tweets in which he satirically threatened to fire "on the spot" any Barstool employee who contacted a reporter to talk aboutunionization, as well as reposting a 2015 article in which he threatened to "smash their little union to smithereens" if Barstool employees attempted to unionize.[116] In response, theIWW Freelance Journalists Union filed a complaint with theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Barstool, alleging that Portnoy had violated federal labor law by threatening retaliation against Barstool employees if they attempted to unionize.[117] In January 2020, Barstool reached an informal settlement with the NLRB in which Portnoy agreed to delete the tweets in question, and which required Barstool to notify employees of their right to unionize.[118] In addition, as part of the settlement Barstool agreed to delete a Twitter account the company had created called "Barstool Sports Union" which had solicitedDMs from employees in an apparent attempt to identify union supporters within the company.[117]