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Barstool Sports recently announced the addition of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden to its team. Founder Dave Portnoy says advertisers want in on the content he’s producing.
“Home run hire,” Portnoy said of the signing of Gruden while speaking with Ryan Whitney and Kirk Minihane on The Unnamed Show podcast. “People love him. He’s all in. People coming out of the woodwork wanting to work with him, advertisers.”
There were questions about Gruden’s marketability due to his high-profile 2021 exit from the NFL. Emails sent by the former ESPN Monday Night Football analyst showed sexist and racist language and photographs to others in the league.
However, Portnoy said that has not been an issue since announcing the move earlier this month. He previously said Gruden is “as bought in and ready to do this as anyone we’ve had for someone of his stature. You never know, but I think he’s going to be an unbelievable hire for us.”
Gruden had started his own YouTube channel in recent months. In a short time, he grew his following to more than 200,000 subscribers before announcing a multi-year contract with Barstool Sports.
And that obsession, Portnoy argues, is what makes Jon Gruden loveable to the average fan.
“He truly loves football. He’s obsessed,” Portnoy said. “It’s just football, football, football, football. He just wants to donate back to football.”
When Whitney said the company must have gotten a contract with Gruden for “pennies on the dollar,” Portnoy agreed.
“We got a good deal,” he said. “He’ll make a ton if we do it right. It’s not like we’re screwing him.”
