Dana White: Corporate Overlords At Penn Gaming Will Be To Blame If Barstool Loses Authenticity
Dana White believes that Barstool Sports may have their work cut out with them - not because of the people who work there, but their corporate overlords.
In a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, White lambasted Penn Gaming, which finalized a deal to acquire 100% of Barstool earlier this year.
"Let me tell you what, once you start to get suits involved in your business and these f***ing corporate guys who think know what they're f***ing doing, and most of them don’t know jack shit," White told McAfee. "You’re gonna see it with Barstool over the next couple of years too. They’ve came in and they bought it out, they bought Portnoy out. I had a situation yesterday with Barstool and it’s turning into a corporate f***ing shit show too. It’s what happens when you get these f***ing suits involved in your business."
Dana White called out PENN Gaming for changing Barstool Sports. (Credit: Getty Images)
DANA WHITE UNLEASHES ON THE SUITS
It's unclear what "situation" White is referring to with Penn, but his point still stands. When you bring in executives and people who don't understand how an entity like Barstool was built, they are undoubtedly going to have a hard time moving forward and staying true to the brand.
White further clarified his remarks after some in the media took it as a direct shot at Barstool and Portnoy, which it was not.
'ASK VICE HOW THAT WENT...'
“Basically what I’m saying is when you build a company like Barstool Sports, the way that it was built with a guy like Dave Portnoy, once you get a bunch of suits involved, it just changes the dynamic of the whole thing. Ask Vice how that went,” White told reporters during the season 2 launch of his Power Slap League.
Vice, which used to be one of the premiere next-generation media brands and was valued at over $5.5 billion at one point, filed for bankruptcy last week.
HE HAS A POINT...
Dana's completely right here. The reason OutKick, Barstool and honestly only a few other brands have become what they are is because of being real and loyal to the fans out there. When there is so much clutter and misinformation in the world, authenticity matters. And it also doesn't hurt when there's humor mixed in as well.
It is quite ironic however that White made his initial comments on the McAfee Show. McAfee just signed a massive deal with ESPN that many believe -- including myself -- may hurt his brand.
McAfee has become a sports media superstar by shooting from the hip, and embracing the "bro culture" of not taking himself too seriously but also doing as he pleases. He was one of the first to bring Aaron Rodgers on after the whole vaccine fiasco. I'm not so sure that ESPN would have allowed him to do that if he was under contract like he is now.
THE FUTURE OF SPORTS MEDIA
Dana White is no stranger to confrontation and absolutely loves calling people out, especially the media. During a recent interview with me, he went off on the media telling them that they "know f'n less than nothing!" as well as said every day that he's "ready to go to war" with all of his haters.
It will be interesting to see what happens Barstool and McAfee's new deals. Portnoy recently revealed he has 20 months left on his contract and is unsure of his future with Penn.