Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy paid a single dollar to buy the company back from Penn Entertainment, who have opted to pursue a partnership with ESPN instead.
On Tuesday, Penn announced a $2 billion sports betting deal with ESPN which will see Barstool Sportsbook become ESPN Bet and Portnoy re-gain 100% ownership of Barstool for the first time in a decade.
Portnoy admitted the gambling industry was not suited for Barstool to operate in due to his reputation and the type of content they make.
“And I think we underestimated how tough it is for myself and Barstool to operate in a regulated world where gambling operators, the New York Times, [and] Business Insider hit pieces [are] f****** with the stock price. Every time we did something it was one step forward, two steps back.”
“We got denied [gambling] licenses because of me, you name it,” Portnoy said. “So the regulated industry [is] probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make.”
“For the first time in forever, we don’t have to watch what we say, how we talk, what we do. It’s back to the pirate ship.”
Emergency Press Conference – I Bought Back Barstool Sports pic.twitter.com/dmUk0eNowx
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 8, 2023
Just a few months after completing a $550m deal to acquire 100% control of Barstool, Penn have decided to cut ties and instead have teamed up with ESPN. They initially took a 36% stake in Barstool for $163m back in 2019 and spent another $388m to buy the remaining interest in February.
Penn will pay $1.5 billion to ESPN over a 10-year period and grant ESPN $500m in warrants to purchase 31.8 million Penn common shares that will vest over 10 years in exchange for media, marketing services, brand and other rights.
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