If you ask the sports media to describe Barstool Sports, much of what you’d hear would match the media’s description of Donald Trump.
Far-right, sexist, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic . . . The list goes on and on and on.
But despite all of those lies, Barstool’s empire continues to grow, and their latest move has the entire sports media shaking in its boots.
For those unfamiliar with the company, Barstool Sports was launched as a local, weekly newspaper in Boston back in 2003 by Dave Portnoy.
Soon after, the company transitioned to a digital media company, and began a rapid ascent up the sports media ladder.
By 2016, Portnoy had grown the company to a point where he was able to sell a majority stake to the Chernin Group for between $10 and $15 million before they increased their investment to upwards of $25 million by 2018.
Less than four years after the original sale, Barstool sold once again to Penn National Gaming for $163 million, giving the company a valuation of almost half a billion dollars and positioning them as a leader in the multi-billion sports gambling boom currently taking place nationwide.
While the rest of the sports media seems to be collapsing in on itself under the weight of their insistence on inserting far-left politics into every aspect of sports, Barstool’s refusal to conform to PC culture or to bow down to the woke social justice mobs has fueled a meteoric rise.
That rise continued earlier this week too, as Barstool made a historic announcement that may very well completely change the live sports broadcasting landscape for the foreseeable future.
On Tuesday, Portnoy, Barstool CEO Erika Nardini, and representatives from the University of Arizona and Arizona Bowl held a press conference in which they announced that Barstool Sports would become the bowl game’s title sponsor beginning this season.
But this isn’t just the typical title sponsor advertising deal we see with other bowl games each year.
No, this deal is much, much bigger, as Barstool is essentially completely taking over the Arizona Bowl, controlling everything from the game’s broadcasting rights to the halftime show entertainment and fan festivities in Tucson throughout game week.
“We are about to announce a multi-year, multi-national, multi-important sponsorship, the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl,” Portnoy said in an “Emergency Press Conference” video posted to social media prior to the announcement.
“We’re not just sponsoring a bowl game. We are, but we’re not. Because we have exclusive broadcast rights. CBS used to own it, see ya, smell you later,” Portnoy continued. “We control everything. The bowl, the broadcast, the halftime show, the national anthem. We are getting into the live sports broadcast game.”
Emergency Press Conference – Introducing The Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl pic.twitter.com/UWo31snw60
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 27, 2021
As Portnoy mentioned, the Arizona Bowl was previously controlled by CBS Sports, and is one of the few bowl games not outright owned or controlled in any way by ESPN.
So the fact that a sports media company that isn’t one of the traditional networks now controls a bowl game and will have the broadcasting rights to the game is a huge shift for the bowl game landscape.
Furthermore, many fans and analysts have speculated that the College Football Playoff’s inevitable expansion could ruin the significance of non-playoff bowl games.
But with a company like Barstool involved in one of those lower level bowl games, fan interest in the game will be significantly higher than if it were one of the 17 other bowl games broadcast on ESPN.
Not to mention, the players who get the chance to play in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl will be far more excited to be playing in a game Barstool is covering than one covered by the same boring, self-proclaimed “journalists” at more traditional networks.
And it’s important to note that none of that is opinion – those are all facts, and the sports media proved just that with their reaction to the news.
The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel essentially served as the voice of sports media when he took to Twitter to bash Barstool’s agreement with the Arizona Bowl.
Mandel took to Twitter to hilariously and inaccurately claim that Barstool was only broadcasting the game as well as sponsoring it because other networks didn’t want to broadcast a game they’re involved in, and the bowl game was simply getting in bed with Barstool for the money.
If I'm reading this correctly, Barstool is going to stream the game because traditional networks want nothing to do with them.
Surprised two college conferences would agree to this, but, anything for a dollar I suppose. https://t.co/68fe9kHube
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 27, 2021
And when faced with the reality that Barstool is simply doing exactly what ESPN has for years, Mandel claimed the difference between ESPN and Barstool is ESPN isn’t “a notoriously misogynistic company,” even though he was incapable of providing any examples to back up his claim.
Business is business, but at least ESPN is not a notoriously misogynistic company.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) July 27, 2021
But of course, Mandel didn’t have a response when Twitter users pointed out that ESPN has a long, documented history with employees taking part in sexual harassment, racism, and a overall toxic work environment, while Barstool merely has far-left members of the media claiming their company is far worse.
Heres some light beach reading Stuart https://t.co/g4J1YmB6tG
— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) July 27, 2021
Fact checkhttps://t.co/tWuCG9giIm
— Gazillion Beers (@gazillionbeers) July 27, 2021
https://t.co/I9UEcDA9UN nope never happens at ESPN oh wait
— Lou Dilonardo (@lad5021) July 27, 2021
This you?https://t.co/rmQgLJvMo8
— Mike D (@Mike_Duffin) July 27, 2021
You see, for media dinosaurs like Mandel, Barstool Sports’ arrival at the level in which they can compete with the ESPN and CBS Sports of the world is insanely troubling.
Mandel knows he and his sports media pals simply cannot compete with Barstool as fans are tuning out of traditional media in favor of outlets like Barstool.
And because Mandel and his friends have decided to make everything about politics, racism, sexism, and the like, they know that won’t be changing any time soon.
The sports media should be terrified of Barstool and the power they now wield.
Because at the end of the day, Barstool’s arrival at the top of the sports media ladder is simply the beginning of the end for the traditional sports media.
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.