Barstool Sports is losing one of its most recognizable names. According to the New York Post‘s Ryan Glasspiegel, Jared Carrabis is leaving Barstool for DraftKings.
Best known for his baseball analysis and commentary, notably relating to the Boston Red Sox, Carrabis had been with Barstool since 2014. As Glasspiegel reported, scrutinizing Barstool fans noted that Carrabis removed Barstool from his Twitter bio and his Section 10 podcast was no longer available on the Barstool Sports website.
Carrabis’s status at Barstool had been a topic of speculation among the site and community’s fans. Kirk Minihane and Barstool CEO Erika Nardini even publicly discussed Carrabis’s contract status on the Token CEO podcast with Minihane jokingly acting as his representative in negotiations. (That part of the conversation can be heard at the 20:00 mark of the video below.)
“I’m ready to make the offer right now,” said Minihane. “Three years, $35,000 a year.” Minihane added that Carrabis was worried he wouldn’t receive a contract offer. The guess is that he’ll earn considerably more with DraftKings.
Barstool founder Dave Portnoy told Glasspiegel that he was “happy” for Carrabis and encouraged him to take the DraftKings offer.
“Making money matters here now not 10 years down the road,” said Portnoy of his longtime friend. “I told him that he should take that offer. I’ll miss him though. But that is our model. Build stars from the ground up and then replace them if they get mega deals.”
Carrabis posted an image on Twitter which appeared to be a farewell to Barstool and nod to his now-former colleagues.
DraftKings has been adding sports media personalities in recent months, attempting to reach fans of those figures and attract them to their sports betting products. Mike Golic Sr. and Jessica Smetana are among those who joined the company most recently, while the sportsbook partnered with The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz in a major sponsorship and distribution deal. Carrabis should bring his considerable following with him to his new venture.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
