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?
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I think this all comes crashing down at some point, and I think the Marlins believe that too, which is why they called up Marsee, who was hitting .246/.379/.438 at Triple-A with 14 home runs and 47 steals in 98 games. He has a strong eye at the plate and good power/speed, which is what we love for fantasy production. Robert Hassell III - OF, WAS: 1% rostered(RECENT CALL-UP, PROSPECT GROWTH) The Nationals traded Alex Call to the Dodgers and called up Hassell already, so now the only question is whether Hassell III can beat out Jacob Young for starts down the stretch. Considering the Nationals are not contending, they should see what the 24-year-old can do. Hassell III is a former first-round pick and top prospect, who is hitting .310/.383/.456 in 76 games at Triple-A with 10 home runs and 16 steals. He struggled in his first 79 MLB plate appearances, so he'd be more of a deeper league play, but he deserves another shot.. If we're just using Process+, we should note that Hassell's teammate, Daylen Lile - OF, WAS (0% rostered), has a Process+ score of 112 since June 15th, which is pretty solid work from a young rookie. He has also started to run it on of late, hitting .271/.317/.407 in July with one home run, six runs scored, seven RBI, and two steals in 17 games. That's more of a deep league play, but he's making great swing decisions, and so the hits should continue to fall. Waiver Wire Pitchers Shane Bieber - SP, TOR: 49% rostered Bieber pitched on Sunday afternoon for Triple-A Buffalo, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings, while striking out six and walking one. He threw 62 pitches while posting an 18% whiff rate and 31% CSW. His fastball sat 91.5 mph, which is slightly down from what we'd want, but he's a 30-year-old on a rehab start in Triple-A, so he's not throwing at 100% speed. 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The former top prospect is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, and his Triple-A results have been inconsistent, but he has flashed that same upside we saw before the injury, so it would be nice to see what he looks like against MLB arms. Johan Oviedo - SP, PIT: 0% rostered Oviedo struck out five and didn't walk anybody for Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday while throwing 42 of 62 pitches for strikes. The 27-year-old was placed on the 60-day IL back in March after battling both lat and elbow issues in the spring. He has a 3.12 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with a 21/4 K/BB ratio across 17 1/3 innings during his rehab and could be activated this week, possibly for a two-start week. Oviedo is not overly exciting, but a pitcher with a career 4.32 ERA in 320.2 MLB innings is certainly usable in deeper formats. Kevin Ginkel - RP, ARI: 9% rosteredJJ Romero - RP, STL: 21% rosteredKyle Leahy, RP, STL: 3% rosteredJose A. Ferrer - RP, WAS: 7% rosteredDennis Santana - RP, PIT: 36% rosteredCole Sands - RP, MIN: 7% rostered Keegan Akin - RP, BAL: 3% rosteredYennier Cano - RP, BAL: 3% rostered Michael Kelly - RP, ATH: 1% rostered All of these guys may now be their team's closer or in part of a closer committee. These situations are all fluid until we see for sure how bullpen usage plays out, but if I was ranking them for waiver adds tonight, I'd rank them as: Santana, Ginkel, Ferrer, Romero, Faucher, Sands, Akin, Cano, Kelly, Leahy (and I'd have Blake Treinen and Randy Rodriguez above all of them). STREAMING STARTER PITCHERS MUST BE 40% ROSTERED ON YAHOO OR UNDER (ranked in loose order) Week of 8/4 Strong Preference Pitcher Roster% Opponent Emmett Sheehan 14% vs STL Joey Cantillo 14% at CWS Spencer Arrighetti 34% at MIA Justin Verlander 17% at PIT, vs WAS Jacob Lopez 16% at WAS Jack Perkins 18% at BAL Fairly Confident Nestor Cortes 18% vs BOS Jack Leiter 23% vs NYY Cade Horton 25% vs CIN Logan Henderson 32% vs NYM Logan Evans 6% vs TB Zebby Matthews 22% at DET Jose Soriano 40% vs TB Luis Severino 22% at WAS, at BAL Charlie Morton 19% vs LAA JT Ginn 16% at BAL Joey Wentz 2% vs MIL, vs MIA Cade Cavalli 1% vs ATH Joe Boyle 22% at SEA Aaron Civale 13% vs CLE Some Hesitation Cade Povich 2% at PHI, vs ATH Frankie Montas 14% at MIL Mitchell Parker 7% vs ATH Slade Cecconi 27% at NYM, at CWS Dustin May 29% vs KC Mike Burrows 4% vs SF, vs CIN Colin Rea 22% at STL Jose Quintana 25% at ATL Adrian Houser 34% at LAA, at SEA JP Sears 19% at ARI, vs BOS Michael Soroka 12% vs CIN, at STL Taijuan Walker 4% vs BAL Cam Schlittler 18% vs HOU Desperate / Uncertain Health or Role Eric Lauer 31% at COL Johan Oviedo 0% vs SF, vs CIN Sean Burke 7% at CLE Chris Paddack 18% vs MIN Tyler Anderson 12% vs TB Carson Whisenhunt 1% vs WAS Michael McGreevy 10% vs CHC Bailey Falter 11% at BOS Davis Martin 2% at SEA, vs CLE Anthony DeSclafani 1% vs SD
