Barstool Sports is known for making news goes viral over their history, and yesterday was no different. The digital content giant announced a three-year partnership with FOX Sports which will see Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy as a weekly contributor on FOX Sports college football pre-game program Big Noon Kickoff, along with several other appearances from Barstool personalities. The partnership also includes Barstool Sports hosting and producing a daily two-hour weekday program on FS1 airing from 8am-10am.
Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger took time on Friday’s edition of Pardon My Take to address Barstool Sports’ newly announced partnership with FOX Sports, calling it a long-term opportunity that feels collaborative and, most importantly to them, authentic.
“This is very different than the ESPN partnership back in 2017,” Katz said during the show. “FOX is a very willing partner. They’re very excited. We’re very excited. They believe in us. We believe in them.”
The duo reassured listeners that their flagship podcast isn’t changing despite the high-profile partnership. Katz was adamant that Pardon My Take will remain untouched. “This show is not going to change at all. We made sure of that,” Katz emphasized.
The deal includes another slight change to the continuation of the Barstool College Football Show. The college show will remain consistent in format but will now take place live at the same location as Big Noon Kickoff for six road broadcasts per season. Studio shows will continue as usual.
As for the new FS1 morning program, Katz and Sollenberger described it as an ensemble cast originating from Barstool’s Chicago office. While both will appear on the show regularly, they stressed their roles will be supplementary, with Katz joking he’ll be on “once a week” and not dedicating “a full-time job’s worth of time.”
“This isn’t Pardon My Take on TV,” Sollenberger clarified. “We’re keeping that just for you guys. This is in addition, so we’re excited about it.”
Katz also noted he may be serving as a fill-in for Portnoy on weeks where he is unavailable to make his weekly appearances on Big Noon Kickoff throughout the season.
The two were candid about how the new agreement feels different from Barstool’s short-lived ESPN venture. That prior deal resulted in the cancelation of Barstool Van Talk after just one episode, partly due to internal backlash at ESPN. Katz acknowledged that experience made him cautious.
“This feels like a real partnership,” said Katz. “They want us. We want them. It wasn’t us begging for a 1 a.m. time slot.”
The hosts even joked that the biggest casualty of the new show may be Wake Up Mincy, Barstool’s other morning content. As far as FOX Sports talent goes, Sollenberger couldn’t resist planting a seed—when he said he was “excited to share the airwaves with Colin Cowherd,” suggesting he might be “up for a take.”
An official launch date for the new program on FS1 has not been released, but Portnoy referenced the show “could” start near the beginning of the college football season in late August on an episode of The Unnamed Show Thursday.
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Barstool Sports is also set to contribute to FOX Sports’ college basketball coverage, including the College Basketball Crown – a postseason tournament launched by the network last year, coming off its successful debut in April 2025.
The announcement from Barstool and FOX Sports comes just days after the network shook up FS1’s weekday lineup. Earlier this week, FOX Sports canceled three programs—Breakfast Ball, The Facility, and Speak—with no word yet from the network on what will replace The Facility or Speak.
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