Barstool, Fox, and a marriage made for modern sports media
Eight years after ESPN cancelled a Barstool late-night show, the digital sports media company that has spawned devoted fans and fervent critics is coming to Fox and Fox Sports1 for the upcoming football season.
'Barstool Sports, myself, we are joining 'Big Noon Kickoff',' Portnoy said in a video posted to social media Thursday, referencing Fox's Saturday morning college football show.
Portnoy has long been a divisive figure in sports media and beyond, building a massive digital following with commentary on an array of subjects, including sports, politics, gambling, finance and pizza. He also has a history of misogynistic and racist comments and has been the subject of sexual misconduct accusations.
Now, he will appear alongside Matt Leinart, Urban Meyer and others during college football season. Barstool, meanwhile, will produce a daily morning show for Fox's cable sports network. As one high-level media executive told The Post: "It's insane! How can you put [Portnoy] on TV next to Urban Meyer? Of course, I'm going to watch.'
Here's what to know about this seismic move for sports media. Industry insiders spoke on the condition of anonymity for this story, to offer candid thoughts without jeopardizing working relationships.
When ESPN launched a show with the hosts of the popular Barstool podcast, 'Pardon My Take,' in 2017, ESPN staffers revolted over Barstool's treatment of women. Portnoy has made degrading comments about women, including once suggesting some 'kind of deserve to be raped.' The ESPN show was canceled after a single episode. (Portnoy has said many of his comments were jokes.)
Much has changed since then.
As other digital sports outlets have struggled or disappeared, Barstool still claims a rabid fan base of mostly young men who consume content, buy merchandise and show up at events. It leaned into gambling ahead of others and helped to launch the careers of several media superstars, including Pat McAfee, now at ESPN, and Alex Cooper, among the most popular podcasters in the country. Go to any college football tailgate and you will find Barstool flags flying in the parking lots. 'Pardon My Take,' featuring Dan Katz and Eric Sollenberger (better known as Big Cat and PFT Commenter) is going on a decade as one of the country's most popular sports podcasts. Portnoy has become the most important pizza influencer in the country.
Barstool's ESPN show also came during President Trump's first term, right before the #MeToo movement gained prominence. Trump since has been re-elected, and Portnoy is now a regular guest on Fox News and Fox Business. After the Barstool partnership was announced, one Fox Sports staffer told the Post, 'I think from a business proposition this is probably smart, and I don't love that that is true.'
ESPN has re-made its business around the industry's biggest personalities, most notably McAfee and Stephen A. Smith. Portnoy is arguably better at generating attention than either.
"Dave has built a one-of-a-kind brand that connects with a new generation of sports fans – authentic, bold, and original,' Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks said in the company's announcement.
A buzzword among so many executives today is relevance. Portnoy has mastered the attention economy with more than 9 million followers between X and TikTok. (Katz and Sollenberger each have more than 1 million X followers, too.) On Fox, Portnoy likely will deliver his share of viral moments, perhaps along the lines of McAfee doing a backflip into the Tennessee River when ESPN's college football pregame show visited Knoxville.
ESPN licenses McAfee's show for two hours every afternoon. It will soon license TNT's pre- and post-game show for its NBA coverage. Now Fox, after canceling three of its daytime talk shows earlier this month, is turning to Barstool to develop a morning show. (According to people familiar with the deal, Barstool is building a TV studio in its Chicago headquarters.)
Sports networks are showing a reluctance to develop new programming outside of live sports, outsourcing what used to be a core function of a network. That leaves Barstool a chance to make a morning show that looks nothing like traditional TV. It's reasonable to assume that whatever Barstool produces won't look anything like ESPN's 'Get Up' or Fox's now-canceled 'Breakfast Ball," shows consisting mostly of ex-athletes and talking heads debating the day's biggest sports stories from behind desks.
Whether Barstool's fans — and other sports fans — will watch on linear TV is another question. McAfee, for example, has a big digital footprint, but his TV ratings have lagged. (ESPN has said that doesn't matter because McAfee is part of the company's direct-to-consumer strategy.) Barstool will now confront similar questions to the networks: Can they take a digital concept and translate it to TV? But also: Can anyone make a successful linear TV show in 2025?
Many have compared Portnoy's role at Fox to something similar to McAfee's — a big-energy presence with a strong connection to young male sports fans. But one media executive said Portnoy also reminded them of ESPN's hiring of conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh on its Sunday morning NFL coverage in the early 2000s.
If you watch McAfee's show, he often isn't delivering the most provocative takes the way Portnoy does or Limbaugh once did. (It's often McAfee's guests making news.)
Limbaugh lasted just a few episodes after he suggested quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because he was Black. But it felt then like Limbaugh was interested in the ESPN platform for his own visibility. This has been the cause of some tension at ESPN with McAfee, too. Is what is good for McAfee always good for ESPN? And in the same vein, will what is good for Portnoy, the executive wondered, always be what's good for Fox Sports?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Baldwin hits 3-run HR, Vargas adds 2-run shot as White Sox beat Rays 8-3 for fourth straight win
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brooks Baldwin hit a three-run homer, Miguel Vargas added a two-run shot and the Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 on Monday night for their season-high fourth straight win. Coming off a sweep at Pittsburgh, Chicago has won four consecutive games for the first time since May 8-11, 2024. The White Sox are 15-36 on the road. Baldwin gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead in the second and Vargas made it 8-2 with a two-run homer in the fifth. It was Vargas' second homer in two games after a 96 at-bat drought. Luis Robert Jr. had a two-run single and Chase Meidroth had three hits. White Sox starter Sean Burke left after 89 pitches and giving up a leadoff walk in the fifth. Tyler Gilbert (4-1), the second of six White Sox pitchers, got the win. Shane Baz (8-6) allowed eight runs and eight hits with two walks in four innings for the Rays. Taylor Walls' two-run double and Yandi Díaz's solo homer accounted for the Rays' runs. Tampa Bay All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, who left Saturday's game after a flare-up of plantar fasciitis, missed his second straight start. He returned from the injured list on July 18 (oblique tightness). Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim left the game in the fourth with lower back tightness. Key moment Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery singled before Baldwin hit his fifth homer of the season to right-center field with two outs to start the Chicago offense. Key stat Chicago has scored 35 runs through four games to begin the second half of the season. Up next Chicago hasn't named a starter for Tuesday's game. RHP Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 2.86) will pitch for the Rays. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits 2-run home run after giving up lead-off home run in latest pitching start
Shohei Ohtani bounced back perfectly on Monday night in a way that only he could. Ohtani returned to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday for the first time since the All-Star break in their matchup with the Minnesota Twins. Though he gave up a home run right off the bat at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani made sure that the Dodgers were back out in front by the time he returned for the second inning. Ohtani, after Mookie Betts was walked to start the game, hit a two-run home run to center field. It marked his 35th home run of the season. The home run came just minutes after Twins star Byron Buxton hit a deep home run to kick off the night in the top of the inning. That was the first extra base hit that Ohtani has allowed all season. Ohtani ended up striking out two in the inning to limit the damage. Ohtani was pulled after three innings on Monday night, which matched his longest start of the season. He was replaced by Dustin May. Ohtani gave up four hits and had three strikeouts while throwing 46 pitches. Monday night marked the sixth time Ohtani has taken the mound since returning from a torn UCL. That's been a slow process, too, though he's lasted longer on the mound as time has gone on. He pitched just one inning in each of his first two starts, then he lasted two innings in the following two appearances. Right before the All-Star break, Ohtani had a season-high four strikeouts in three innings against the San Francisco Giants. Though Monday night's performance didn't get off to the best start, Ohtani expertly made his way through it and came out just fine. Freddie Freeman returns after wrist injury Despite what looked like a significant wrist injury the day before, Dodgers star Freddie Freeman returned to the lineup on Monday as if nothing had happened. Freeman left the Dodgers' loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon after he took an 88 mph sinker directly to the wrist. He immediately pulled himself from the game, too, and was ruled out with a left wrist contusion. His X-rays after that game were negative, though, and he was considered day-to-day. Then on Monday, Freeman was right back in the Dodgers' lineup. He said he felt a little sore ahead of the game, but was otherwise good to go. This post will be updated with more information shortly.
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Christian Yelich's RBI single
Christian Yelich hits a single up the middle, extending the Brewers' lead to 2-0 in the top of the 6th
