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Barstool Sports
Dave Portnoy (founder and chief of content)
Erika Ayers (CEO)
Thirteen days after buying back the company he founded from Penn Entertainment, Dave Portnoy took to X (then known as Twitter) to issue a complaint of sorts: “I’m so f****** sick of the Savanah (sic) Bananas,” the Barstool Sports owner wrote in August.
The Bananas, a viral sensation in their own right, fired back, claiming that “it’s almost like … everyone at Barstool is a huge fan.” Portnoy, to no surprise, did not stand down: “Somebody tell the @TheSavBananas that I didn’t own Barstool till last week. I’m back. Lame s*** is out.”
While the August sale of Barstool from Penn back to Portnoy means the media giant is no longer in the sportsbook industry, it also ensures it is unsullied by any corporate shackles.
Everything, as the beloved Bananas can attest, is fair game now for the company that leans on loud, against-the-grain content.
During its Penn era, Barstool’s properties and programming boomed. Barstool’s main account handle has upward of 31.2 million followers on TikTok, 14 million on Instagram, 5.9 million on Facebook and 5.3 million on Twitter. It has 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube, where its more than 7,000 videos have generated 912 million views. Its industry-leading podcast portfolio is led by “Pardon My Take,” a regular atop charts, and also includes titles such as “Bussin’ With The Boys” and “Spittin Chiclets.”
With Portnoy and CEO Erika Ayers leading the way, Barstool continues to innovate with its efforts in the events space and subsequent coverage. Its ongoing Rough N’ Rowdy boxing series livestreamed on YouTube for the first time in mid-August. Its broadcast of a Korn Ferry Tour event last month grew the PGA Tour property’s social channels by 220% during the tournament compared to a normal week, and reports indicate the PGA Tour wants to expand the relationship. The company is even capitalizing on Portnoy’s popular pizza review videos, with its One Bite Pizza Festival debuting last month at Coney Island in Brooklyn.
“For us, for Barstool, for the first time in forever, we don’t have to watch what we say, how we talk, what we do,” Portnoy said in a video shortly after the Penn sale. “This is now going to be a place for content, content, content, content.” — Erik Bacharach
