Barstool Sports CRO Deirdre Lester projects that the publisher "will be down 20-25% in advertising in the 'short term,'" adding that Q2 "has always been a bit slower for live sports," according to Kayleigh Barber of DIGIDAY. Lester's team has been "pitching new digital editorial products, while completely taking live events out of the conversations, for instance its 14-match, country-wide golf tournament that was meant to start in April but has since been tentatively pushed to run from June to October." While "big sponsorship campaigns are great," Lester is looking at "bringing on smaller advertisers at lower price points in the hopes these relationships will expand." She said, “Singles and doubles matter right now.” Lester said one piece of advice she has been sharing with her sales team is to “make as many personal connections that you can make right now." Lester indicated that her division has been "instructed to focus only on virtual events and products that they have full control over, versus live events, which could be postponed or canceled again." Barber noted Barstool has decided to "end its subscriptions business during the pandemic." The product "had 30,000 subscribers at its peak" (DIGIDAY.com, 5/11).
