Barstool is Going Oldstool

August 9th, 2023 was a BIG DAY! First and foremost, it was my 30th birthday, and I had a great time thanks to my wonderful fiance. She coordinated a little surprise for me with a few of my friends at SPIN, nothing over the top, and it was exactly what I wanted, even though I hadn't thought of it ahead of time. She's the best, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. In other news, you may have heard of a little $1 acquisition that occurred, that of Dave Portnoy reclaiming full ownership of Barstool Sports for the first time in almost 8 years. That's right, for the better part of a decade Dave hasn't even been the majority owner of the company he leads, though it never stopped him from maintaining his position at the helm. And after several sales, millions of dollars and followers gained, and several HR complaints filed, you can turn back the clocks and pretend like none of it ever happened, cause HE'S BACK, but what does this mean for Barstool?

Content will reclaim its crown

First things first, content will be back in a big way at Barstool. And that's not to say that content ever went away, but the vibe certainly changed when The Chernin Group, and later Penn Entertainment, got involved. As major business entities, the public facing brands under the Barstool umbrella had to adhere to standards set by these financial backers, especially with regard to Penn and their requirements with gaming regulations. It's crazy to think that we live in a world where a Youtube video can influence a stock price, but we do, and they did, and investors do not like that, so for a while the content had to change. But the training wheels are coming off, and when it comes to Dave, you have to know that he loves the craziness and he thrives in chaos, so the more he can make the better. And he knows the stoolies love it too! Reminiscent of the days of rooftop rendezvous, Team Hank stands, and what should probably be defined as mentally abusing Rico Bosco, Dave will soon have the cameras rolling 24/7, the censors will be turned off, and drama will be back in the spotlight where it belongs.

Bye bye sportsbook

With Penn saying goodbye to Barstool, that means that Barstool must also say goodbye to their sportsbook, and may never see their name on one again. And while I'm sure they will still cover gambling in their content, the likes of the "Can't Lose Parlay" will no longer be costing you money each week. In may ways, I think this makes more sense for Barstool than it may seem, especially when you consider just how strong of a foothold DraftKings and FanDuel have on the sports betting market. Earlier this year, FanDuel reported almost a 50% market share of the legal sports betting action in the US, while DraftKings hovered just above the 20% mark, and Caesar's and BetMGM followed. Barstool, even with their diehard fans, couldn't help Penn break into this elite group the way they had hoped, and thus it makes more sense for all parties to get back to what they are good at. Penn has found a new partner in ESPN, and Barstool can go back to making content that often includes gambling, but doesn't cost anyone state gaming licensure in the process.

Barstool Sports broadcasts?

Over the last few years, aside from the gambling content, Barstool has become increasingly more involved in live sports broadcasts. From a college football bowl game, kinda, a college basketball invitational, Rough n Rowdy, the PLL, and most recently a Korn Ferry Tour event, Barstool has gone from water-cooler commentary to main feed reporting. For your pay-by-play needs, Jake Marsh has studied all the great commentators and brings vibes to the broadcast that will have you reminiscing over your favorite Big East matchups from the 90's. Alternatively, in the new age of golf we now find ourselves in, Frankie Borrelli and Trent Ryan have had their hands in pushing the game forward with on-course trivia games, cheeky conversations, and Whoop metrics while resting, the likes of which professional sports has never seen. In a relatively short time, Barstool has navigated a path to hosting real-deal sporting events, and in doing so has brought and fresh new fan experience to the equation. They may not be there yet, but I would love to see a Barstool Sports crew for a random Summer League or G League game in the future, maybe even a Barstool version of the Nickelodeon game, though Rodger would probably have to retire for that to happen. Either way, I see the Barstool Logo coming to a TV screen near you in the not so distant future, so get ready.

I'm sure these changes are very surface level compared to what will really happen now that Penn is out of the picture, but that's what I have to work with, so I'll be watching along myself to see how it all unfolds. Hopefully, this reclaiming of ownership means reinvigoration of the old spirit, rather than a regression to old ways. As an employer of almost 1000 people, according to LinkedIn, the old frat-boy culture couldn't continue to dominate the workspace, and the corporate influence forced them to pullback a bit in those areas. Now that the influence is gone, my hope is that they use the regained freedom to test boundaries, without blatantly ignoring them along the way. Either way, the pirate ship has set sail once again, and I look forward to seeing what is on the horizon.