Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy built the company from the ground up. But that doesn’t mean he gets the respect for his business acumen he feels he deserves.
While appearing on the All In Podcast, Portnoy was asked what he actually enjoys about running the digital media company he founded more than 20 years ago. He shared his belief that — in spite of selling the company twice, once for a total of $366 million before repurchasing it for $1 — he still isn’t viewed as a strong businessman by many observers.
“I’m underestimated a little on the business side,” Portnoy said. “There’s certain aspects I like, certain aspects I hate.”
The Barstool Sports founder was quick to point out what he did not enjoy doing from a business standpoint.
“I hate negotiating the talent contracts. If you could have told me, ‘Dave, what’s something you’re gonna hate?’ It’s the talent business, where, inherently, we’re trying to find new stars, build them up, just so they can turn around, hire an agent, negotiate with us, and then leave. I wish it was a product that I owned. And the more we do that, I hate it. It happened with Alex (Cooper), (Pat) McAfee. We make millionaires out of people. That’s our business, but I hate, hate, hate that. But the business side of it, outside of the talent, and ‘What’s the next steps,’ I enjoy.”
Dave Portnoy also joked that if he didn’t have to have an HR department, he wouldn’t. He continued by noting that he’s never going to apologize for his success, either.
“I won’t apologize for making money, having money, spending money, none of it. That’s what I work my ass off for,” Portnoy said. “And it is wildly irritating. As somebody who built Barstool, I didn’t take a vacation day for 10 years. I literally had a hump in my neck because I was at my computer all day. To then be told I have to coddle somebody else who works for me is infuriating.”
