Dave Portnoy Makes a Big Move, Buys Back Barstool Sports

Aug. 9 2023, Published 10:Fifty eight a.m. ET

The gist:

• Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, announced that he has repurchased the company after house owners Penn Entertainment made up our minds to sell.
• Dave in the beginning bought Barstool to Penn as a result of he believed the sports betting corporate could take the sports weblog "to the moon."
• As of August 2023, Dave is as soon as once more the only owner of Barstool Sports.

On Aug. 8, 2023, twenty years after he first founded the preferred, right-wing sports weblog, Dave Portnoy announced that he's as soon as again Barstool's sole proprietor. Dave introduced the exchange on Twitter, announcing that Penn Entertainment, the sports making a bet corporate that had purchased Barstool for $551 million earlier this 12 months, had made up our minds to phase tactics with Barstool.

"Penn Entertainment and Barstool Sports have gone our separate ways," Dave stated within the video. "So that is right, for the first time in a decade, I own 100 percent of Barstool Sports."

Following the inside track that Dave repurchased the company, many puzzled why he chose to do so, and in addition why he offered it first of all.

Why did Dave Portnoy buy back Barstool Sports?

Based on reporting around the resolution, it seems like Dave wasn't the only using the decision-making around repurchasing Barstool. Instead, Penn determined to drop the corporate and rebrand Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet this fall. The rebranding is one a part of a 10-year agreement that Penn signed with ESPN. Penn agreed to pay ESPN $1.Five billion as a part of the deal, and $500 million in warrants tied to media, marketing, and other services from ESPN.

Penn have been going through heightened scrutiny around its sports making a bet operations in fresh months partly on account of their ties to Barstool. Dave has a history of racist and misogynistic feedback and behavior. It seems like Penn's association with him and his brand in the long run led them to lose out gambling licenses in several states, including Massachusetts.

"Every time we did something, it was one step forward, two steps back," Dave mentioned in his video. "We got denied licenses because of me. You name it. So the regulated industry probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make."

Penn's press release saying the inside track stated that that they had sold 100 p.c in their stock in the company "in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants."

Penn additionally has the suitable to part of the gross proceeds Dave may just receive from any long run sale, according to the phrases of the deal.

The information of the sale comes after a moderately tumultuous tenure in the partnership between Barstool and Penn. In May, Penn overrode Barstool and fired Ben Mintz, a poker participant who had used a slur on camera while reading the lyrics of a song.

Why did Dave decide to sell Barstool?

Dave sold a minority stake to Penn in 2020 and finalized the sale of a majority stake in 2023. As Dave explains within the video, he offered the company as a result of he thought Penn may just lend a hand take Barstool "to the moon."

Although it seems like Penn's hand was forced in its sale of Barstool, Dave mentioned that he had not anything but great things to mention concerning the corporate. In the video, he mentioned that that they had just underestimated how tough it will be for Barstool to operate in a regulated global where they'd be underneath way more scrutiny than they'd been previously.

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