When news broke late Friday that Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports were being removed from FOX Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff program, my response was quick. That lasted longer than I expected. The partnership was both intriguing and confusing from the beginning. Remember when Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced the partnership? It was Portnoy spending more than two minutes providing a Michigan Wolverines public service announcement and a campaign-style speech against Ohio State.
So, what took so long?
I’m not naive enough to believe FOX Sports didn’t know what it was signing up for. The network was well aware of the attention Portnoy’s presence would generate on the program. FOX cashed in because of it last season. But times change. Money talks, and so does viewership. FOX Sports chose one partner over the other, but the partnership proved fruitful for both FOX and Barstool on many levels.
Make no mistake about it, there was tension in the air when the partnership was announced. It was bold, brash and different. The agreement got people talking and received the attention it was designed to generate. Portnoy made his first appearance on Big Noon Kickoff outside the Horseshoe in WWE fashion. The program showcased his presence as bigger than any of the other panelists on the desk.
Why?
“When it comes to Big Noon Kickoff and what we do in the college football space, there’s really no better voice of the fan than Barstool,” said Eric Shanks [FOX Sports CEO, Executive Producer] last September. “It’s a really good start to figuring out how we can be more of a voice of the fan. College sports is all about rivalries and fandoms, and there are no better rivalries than in college sports. We think Barstool is the perfect partner for us.”
If FOX wanted Barstool to be the voice of the fan, was Portnoy the right answer? Should being the voice of the fan include an outright and direct hatred of the biggest school in the conference? That’s the question many asked, and some still do today.
It Got Results
Was Portnoy more of a contributor and bit than an analyst? Yes, but for good reason. He doesn’t have the pedigree or resume to sit at the desk alongside the rest of the crew. I thought the way Big Noon utilized his presence was smart. Bring the jester out, let him do his schtick and move on, all while bringing a younger, more digitally savvy audience to the program.
Last year, Big Noon Kickoff had its most-watched season in history. It capped off the year with its second-most-watched episode ever on-site at Michigan versus Ohio State. The bet paid off. Rob Stone told me earlier this year that Barstool’s inclusion in the program deserved credit.
Digitally, Big Noon Kickoff had never been so popular. The Barstool brand got behind the program every Saturday, providing clips, behind-the-scenes content and real-time engagement that FOX Sports had never attempted before.
2026, so far, has been a much different story. According to Richard Deitsch, the first three weeks of the college football season saw Big Noon Kickoff losing viewership year over year while College GameDay held serve and grew slightly. Last year, Big Noon Kickoff averaged 1.77 million viewers in its final hour. Through three weeks this year, the program was averaging 1.2 million in the final hour. Losing roughly half a million viewers isn’t anything to ignore.
So, did the magic of Barstool Sports wear off? Or did Ohio State put the pressure on at exactly the right time?
Everyone Won
In the end, FOX Sports benefited from being willing to try something different. The network introduced a younger audience to its product. Digitally, FOX likely learned valuable lessons about how to cater to different demographics across different platforms. By removing Portnoy from the program, there could also be an opportunity to bring more traditional college football fans back to the show while continuing to engage the younger demographics that have discovered the product.
More importantly, the decision could reinforce FOX Sports’ relationship with the conference and Ohio State. If the move was influenced by concerns from the conference’s most prominent programs, it could play a role in the broader relationship between FOX Sports, Ohio State and the conference itself.
Barstool Sports also wins.
Broadcast distribution was a new step for the digital content giant. It exposed the brand to countless new faces while adding another feather to the cap of its growth potential. Despite Portnoy departing Big Noon Kickoff, Barstool maintains its partnership with FOX Sports. Wake Up Barstool continues on FS1, and the Barstool College Football Show continues with FOX’s support.
Thinking Differently
FOX Sports tried something traditional sports television rarely does with broadcast. It brought a digital-first brand, an unconventional personality and a completely different voice into one of the most established formats in the business. Barstool got the opportunity to prove it could take its audience beyond phones, laptops and social media and into a major national television broadcast.
Neither side was afraid to find out what would happen.
That is why, despite the controversy surrounding the decision, it is difficult to view the Barstool Sports and Big Noon Kickoff partnership as anything other than a valuable experiment for both sides. It didn’t work forever. That’s OK.
Sports television cannot continue to rely on the same formulas, the same personalities and the same presentation styles while expecting younger audiences to remain engaged. Sometimes an experiment will succeed. Sometimes it will run its course. Also, sometimes it will create tension with the very audience a network is trying to serve.
But without taking those chances, the industry risks becoming stagnant.
FOX Sports and Barstool Sports both walk away from this with something they didn’t have before the partnership began. The partnership itself shouldn’t be viewed as a failure. It was different. It generated attention, created conversation, reached audiences in ways traditional television has struggled to reach them and, for a time, it worked.
Sports television needs more of that.
The future of the business isn’t going to be built by protecting what has always worked. It’s going to be built by finding out what might work next.
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