It is a time of upheaval in the world of college football. Any time an institution in the sports world goes through a major culture shift, Dave Portnoy finds a way to put Barstool Sports in the middle of the action and right now is no exception.
The Arizona Bowl announced a unique partnership with Barstool Sports on Tuesday. The company will become the title sponsor for the Tucson, Arizona bowl game. It will also become the new exclusive rights holder. The game had been partnered with CBS, with the game moving from CBS Sports Network to CBS just last year.
Now, fans that want to watch the Arizona Bowl will need an internet connection. Barstool Sports will have the exclusive media rights. The game will stream on Barstool’s website as well as on the company’s social media channels.
Portnoy, the Barstool founder, announced the agreement on social media today in one of his Emergency Press Conferences. He promised that Barstool would have a hand in everything from distribution to the halftime show, calling the opportunity “our unicorn”.
The Arizona Bowl is in the perfect position to experiment with how it is delivered to fans and what experiences it can provide those in attendance. It is not one of the multiple bowls owned by ESPN. It has never had a longterm media rights deal. On top of that, the matchup between teams from the Mountain West and the MAC could use a little extra juice in order to attract more casual fans.
