Earlier this week, Penn Entertainment fired Barstool Sports personality Ben Mintz after he uttered a racial slur on a livestream when reading rap lyrics. Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, was against the decision, along with Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini and prominent personality Dan Katz.
In an “emergency press conference,” Portnoy explained his position on the situation, stating Penn Entertainment feared regulators considering repealing their gambling licenses if action was not taken.
“He turned white as a ghost,” Portnoy said of the incident with Mintz. “You could tell instantly, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I do?’… He’s been super apologetic; in shambles basically. I think anyone who watched the clip was like, ‘There’s no way he meant to do that.’ He’s just not the brightest bulb to ever come out of the pipe, and he screwed up and he knew he screwed up. There was no hatred behind it, no nothing. Still awful, but not in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting here like, ‘We had to fire Ben Mintz.’”
Thursday, shares of Penn Entertainment fell by approximately 14% amid Portnoy indicating that the decision to move on from Mintz could represent a “death blow” to the company. The acquisition of Barstool Sports was completed by Penn Entertainment in February for $388 million, and the company continues to generate consistently high engagement and expand its reach.
Penn Entertainment’s revenue in the first quarter of calendar year 2023 rose by a margin of 7%, top-line revenue equating to $1.67 billion. Moreover, Penn Entertainment raised its revenue guidance entering the year to $6.81 billion, but experienced a 24% reduction in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent to $478 million.
“Part of what makes Barstool Sports interesting is that we are not particularly corporate in how we think about the culture of our content,” Nardini said to Sportico. “Now there are certain lines you don’t cross; there’s guardrails that exist. Those have obviously increased now that we’re in a highly regulated category.”
