Two of the internet’s greatest provocateurs got together for a podcast this week. Clay Travis was a guest on Barstool’s The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Company. Despite the fact that they approach entertainment in the same way, it has been a while since Travis and Portnoy have spoken due to a disagreement and some professional rivalry between them.
“This, I guess, is the end of the Cold War,” Portnoy said when he brought Clay onto the show. Portnoy’s first question was whether or not Travis expected to be walking into an ambush.
“I did,” Travis answered honestly.
The interview was actually the exact opposite of an ambush. It began with Portnoy praising Travis for the deal he made to sell Outkick to FOX. While Travis said the sale price had not yet been made public and wouldn’t go into details, he did say he was “super happy” with the sales price and that he would be “a hundred million dollar plus guy,” taxes not withstanding. Clay stated that Outkick didn’t set out to sell the company, but as groups began to seek them out and express interest, it just made sense to pursue the opportunity.
Clay said he was motivated to sell due to the heat in the gambling industry right now. Barstool was one of the companies who discussed the possibility of acquiring Outkick. DraftKings did so as well. Clay projects that in the future, online sportsbooks will be run by “the four or five guys positioned to be standing in a big way.” He added that if he were leading a sports betting company today he’d make an aggressive run at Adam Schefter, Adrian Wojnarowski and other high profile newsbreakers. Portnoy and Travis agreed that gambling companies are likely overvalued right now and this is the time any content creator can make the most money from them.
“We probably played a fairly significant role in that,” Portnoy said, referencing the 2020 sale of Barstool Sports to Penn National.
One subject Portnoy was particularly interested in was exclusivity. He was surprised to learn that Outkick will not be forced to exclusively play and promote the FOX Bet app.
“We are still in charge of negotiating what partnerships we are going to have,” Travis said. “We are not exclusive to FOX Bet. At Outkick, we’re talking to everybody right now.” That apparently includes FanDuel, who Travis says Outkick is in negotiations with on an extension of the online gambling giant’s sponsorship.
FOX reportedly didn’t just want the Outkick name. They specifically wanted Travis and his brand’s sports betting influence. Clay told Portnoy that Outkick is either #1 or near the top among affiliate sites in delivering signups for FanDuel. He revealed that similar to the conditions Penn National put on Barstool in order for that sale to close, FOX locked Travis into a five year deal to continue creating content for the site.
According to Travis, Outkick was on track to generate a 10 million profit in 2021. That left him questioning whether it was smart to sell in the 2nd inning rather than the 5th. But once FOX emerged as a suitor, he felt good about the fit. The combination of the company’s reach in sports and news, its position in the sports betting space, his eight years of working with them, and their willingness to stand behind talent when they step into a fire made them the right business partner for Outkick.
Clay is sellout. I canceled. Not supporting a media conglomerate. They will dump him in 2 years.