Barstool Sports and ESPN have had a long, complicated relationship. But it certainly appears as if Dave Portnoy would like to end any cross-promotion between the two entities.
During The Unamed Show on Wednesday, Barstool Sports podcast host Ryan Whitney was discussing his recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show when he questioned if the company’s founder was upset that he went on the program.
“Am I not supposed to go on McAfee?” Whitney asked.
“You and Biz are on McAfee more than you’re on Barstool,” Portnoy replied.
After Whitney said it was the first time he had ever appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, and said he knows that Portnoy doesn’t like it but questioned why he couldn’t do it more frequently.
“I know that drives you crazy … but I can’t go on in the middle of the playoffs?” he asked.
“It’s ESPN,” said Portnoy. “I’ll guarantee you — I’m gonna say this: if we had a conversation offline and I told you why I get mad about it, you wouldn’t go on anymore. I can’t do it online. By the way, it’s not a McAfee thing. It’s ESPN. It’s not McAfee, it’s ESPN. So that’s what I’m telling you. At FOX Sports, none of their guys can go on ESPN. None. You can’t. We let it — and it’s not just you — but when we let it become a regular feature, than I’m like ‘Well why are we helping ESPN?'”
Whitney said he was a team player and would abide by whatever decision Portnoy made.
“If the head of the company — you — is like ‘I don’t want you on there’, I get it,” Whitney said. “100%.”
When Kirk Minihane probed for more information, Dave Portnoy wouldn’t relent.
“I can’t get into it,” the Barstool Sports founder said.
Barstool Sports and ESPN had previously begun a relationship that would see two of the digital network’s most popular hosts — Dan “Big Cat” Katz and PFT Commenter — host a talk show on ESPN2 in 2017. However, internal pushback from employees at the Worldwide Leader ultimately led to the cancellation of the program after one episode.
Barstool personalities have made numerous appearances on ESPN since that cancellation, including PFT Commenter serving as a celebrity guest picker during College GameDay when it appeared at his alma mater, James Madison University.
Additionally, Dave Portnoy was able to re-purchase Barstool Sports for $1 after striking a deal with PENN Entertainment that saw the gambling company end its deal with the Portnoy-founded company and consummate a licensing deal with ESPN to create the ESPN BET sports betting platform.
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