{"id":284487,"date":"2023-08-08T21:40:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T02:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=284487"},"modified":"2023-08-09T11:23:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T16:23:59","slug":"portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/","title":{"rendered":"David Portnoy: Regulators Denied Penn Licenses Because of Me, Won’t Sell Barstool Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The concept of media and sports wagering partnerships entered a new phase Tuesday, when ESPN<\/em> and Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) announced an agreement under which the casino operator will pay a hefty sum to use the ESPN Bet brand. Barstool Sports<\/em> was left out in the cold.<\/p>\n

\"David
Barstool Sports<\/em> founder David Portnoy. Following Penn Entertainment’s deal with ESPN<\/em>, he now owns 100% of Barstool Sports<\/em> again. (Image: Sports Illustrated<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of a deal that will see Penn pay $1.5 billion over 10 years to ESPN<\/em> while granting the network rights to eventually own up to a quarter of its outstanding equity, the largest regional casino operator sold 100% of Barstool Sports<\/em> back to founder David Portnoy. They part ways with the brash pop culture and sports media entity just months after taking full ownership of the site. In February, Penn paid $388 million<\/a> for the 64% of Barstool Sports<\/em> it didn\u2019t previously own, bringing the total acquisition price for Portnoy\u2019s company to $551 million.<\/p>\n

In a statement announcing the partnership with ESPN<\/em>,<\/a> Penn didn\u2019t say anything about Portnoy or Barstool Sports. <\/em>But the entrepreneur said it was difficult for his company to operate in the regulated gaming space, and that Penn\u2019s ties to him may have cost Barstool Sportsbook licenses in some states.<\/p>\n

We underestimated just how tough it is for myself and Barstool to operate in a regulated world where gambling regulators, New York Times, Business Insider<\/em>, hit pieces f*cking with the stock price,\u201d<\/strong> Portnoy said in one his famous \u201cemergency press conferences.\u201d \u201cEvery time we did something, it was one step forward, two steps back. We got denied licenses because of me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Portnoy didn\u2019t mention specific states in which Barstool Sports<\/em>, the brand Penn used for its online and retail sportsbooks, was rejected for permits. He added the regulated betting industry \u201cprobably isn\u2019t the best place\u201d for Barstool and its bread-and-butter content.<\/p>\n

Much Speculation On Penn, Portnoy Relationship<\/h2>\n

Financial terms of the transaction between Penn and Portnoy weren\u2019t disclosed. But the casino operator maintains rights to 50% of the proceeds should Portnoy resell his company or monetize it in some other fashion.<\/p>\n

\n

For the first time since before The Chernin Group took a majority stake in 2016, Portnoy owns 100% of the Boston-based company he founded 20 years ago. Over the past three-plus years since Penn initially purchased part of Barstool, the casino company remained quiet about Portnoy\u2019s various controversies, including his sexual proclivities and comments on various topics of the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Analysts covering the gaming company<\/a> were mixed in their views of just how much of Portnoy\u2019s perceived antics the firm would tolerate. Though it\u2019s never been confirmed, things may have reached a tipping point in May when Portnoy fired<\/a> Ben \u201cMintzy\u201d Mintz for using a racial epithet while reciting a rap song on air.<\/p>\n

Initially, Portnoy didn\u2019t want to let Mintz go, and it\u2019s rumored that he succumbed to pressure from Penn to fire the on-air personality to prevent trouble with regulators.<\/p>\n

Next Moves for Portnoy, Barstool Sports<\/h2>\n

During the emergency press conference, Portnoy displayed no ill will toward Penn and said he plans to retain his shares in the casino operator because he owns \u201ca ton of Penn stock,\u201d and believes it will experience price appreciation.<\/p>\n

\n

As for Barstool Sports<\/em>, which could be attractive to another media or sports betting company, Portnoy said he has no plans for another sale and that he\u2019ll hold on to the company until he dies. Now, he\u2019ll turn his attention to \u201ccontent, content, content.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Conjuring Al Pacino in the Godfather III<\/em>, Portnoy quipped about his return to full ownership of his company: \u201cEvery time I think I\u2019m out, they pull me back in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The concept of media and sports wagering partnerships entered a new phase Tuesday, when ESPN and Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) announced an agreement under which the casino operator will pay a hefty sum to use the ESPN Bet brand. Barstool Sports was left out in the cold. As part of a deal that will see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":260460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,32093,1,1074],"tags":[81903,81966,81967,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPortnoy Back In Full Control Of Barstool Sports, Won't Sell Again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Portnoy says he cost Penn betting licenses, won't sell Barstool Sports again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Portnoy Back In Full Control Of Barstool Sports, Won't Sell Again\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Portnoy says he cost Penn betting licenses, won't sell Barstool Sports again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-09T02:40:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-09T16:23:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DP.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/\",\"name\":\"Portnoy Back In Full Control Of Barstool Sports, Won't Sell Again\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-09T02:40:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-09T16:23:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Portnoy says he cost Penn betting licenses, won't sell Barstool Sports again.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-back-in-full-control-of-barstool-sports-wont-sell-again\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DP.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy. Following Penn Entertainment's deal with ESPN, he now owns 100% of Barstool Sports again. 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Following Penn Entertainment's deal with ESPN, he now owns 100% of Barstool Sports again. 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