The big news out of Barstool Sports this week has been the departure of CEO Erika Ayers Badan, and while the timing of Ayers Badan’s exit came across as a surprise, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy had been in the loop behind the scenes for some time.
Portnoy called into Barstool Radio on Wednesday and told hosts Kelly Keegs and Francis Ellis he’s been handling tasks that Ayers Badan did well before the news broke.
“I wasn’t caught off guard by it. So I knew it was coming,” Portnoy said of Erika’s exit. “I’ve been doing more work for the past couple months.”
Dave Portnoy said he’s never considered himself a sad or sentimental person, and while he developed a great personal and professional relationship with Ayers Badan, he doesn’t have the time to mourn or be mad about Erika leaving.
“You deal with what’s in front of you, and you adjust,” said Portnoy. “I’m already mentally ready for the next part, which is me doing a lot more of the business side.”
When asked how things have been going in terms of taking on more business side work, Portnoy said it’s gone better than expected.
“I like the people that I’m dealing with, and I had no real interaction with the finance guy, Aaron, or like the lawyer, Paul, or Kim in HR. But I’ve become far more acquainted with them recently, and I like all of them,” he said. “Those are all Erika hires, so like one of the first things that I was concerned with or wondering about was, ‘Well if Erika’s leaving, are these people leaving?’”
“They’ve all adjusted to me yelling and hanging up on them or whatever it may be pretty good,” Portnoy added. “So that’s a positive. If I don’t hire you, and you’re not familiar with me, you may not love the way that I communicate all the time. But they seem all to be in very good spirits with it and used to it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”
Dave Portnoy said while the transition has been a net positive, contract negotiations while acting as the CEO has been a bit of a drawback. But it’s always been that way in Portnoy’s eyes.
“Our company lives in like a fantasy land that no other company lives in where everyone walks in at the end of the year and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s time for a 50% raise right?’” he said. “So dealing with contracts and all that shit absolutely sucks.”
