PENN Entertainment nabbed 36% of Barstool Sports in 2020. Now, as Awful Announcing reports, they’ve spent $36 million to require the remaining shares from founder David Portnoy.
Barstool Sports now officially belongs to the sports entertainment and gambling behemoth.
That initial purchase may have spelled the beginning of the end.
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At least UFC President Dana White seems to think so. The guy’s worth 500 million dollars, so you might want to pay attention to what he says.
On The Pat MacAfee Show, White was asked by the host about his personal experience with being somewhat bought out. ESPN paid a billion bucks for UFC broadcast rights.
“When you went to Disney, ESPN, did people hate the move in the beginning?”
White responds, “I stare that sh– down with every move I make every day. At the end of the day, it’s your life, your business and your decision. But if you look at how you blew up, it’s because of this, because of this environment here.”
Here’s the fine point White is making. Getting corporate investment isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but his experience seemed to be different than that of Barstool’s recent one. In essence, UFC got to keep their soul. Barstool most likely won’t be able to.
White continues, “Once you start to get suits involved in your business, you get these fu—- corporate guys who think they know what they’re doing, you’re gonna see this with Barstool over the next couple of years. They came in, bought Portnoy out. This is what happens when they get involved in your business.”
Will Barstool be so lucky? It’s doubtful. Portnoy himself, when asked if there would any changes, said, “nothing. Literally, nothing.”
But don’t get your hopes up. Bookies.com noted a letter from the PENN Entertainment CEO that said, “to be clear, neither Mr. Portnoy nor anyone else at Barstool has any control or decision-making authority over the operations of either the retail or online operations of Barstool Sportsbook.”
And the kicker? Portnoy is now a talent represented through “loan out companies.”
Ouch. Portnoy has been dealing with some sexual assault accusations, although none of them have really stuck. Still, he may very well be on the chopping block.
And if you try to re-invent the wheel, it might just not spin at all. White has a point.
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