Dave Portnoy Owns Barstool Sports, Again, After Penn Divests And Signs Partnership Deal With ESPN

For the first time in over a decade, Dave Portnoy owns all of Barstool Sports.

Tuesday, Penn Entertainment announced it had divested from Barstool, selling 100 percent of its stake to Portnoy. In addition, Penn signed an exclusive partnership deal with ESPN to trademark and create "ESPN Bet" for a 10-year term.

Portnoy regaining ownership of Barstool is the more interesting piece of news. Penn finalized an acquisition of the brand earlier this year for a total of $551 million. Portnoy first sold a majority stake in Barstool to Peter Chernin's Chernin Group in 2016. 

The initial purchase by Penn grew Portnoy's networth to nine figures. But the deal hamstrung the brand. Penn is beholden to state regulators to license its product, which Portnoy says at times denied Penn over his content alone.

In May, Penn forced Barstool to fire an employee named Ben Mintz for rapping a song that included the “n-word." Portnoy objected to the firing and fought for Mintz, but says he lost out to concerns over regulations.

“ is highly regulated by the government. They’re issued licenses for gambling that — just as easily as they’re issued — they can be pulled back,” Portnoy said at the time.

As of today, Barstool no longer answers to regulations, stock prices, or slimy corporate executives.

“We underestimated just how tough it is for myself and Barstool to operate in a regulatory world where gambling regulators, the New York Times, Business Insider hit pieces f–king with the stock price. Every time we did something it was one step forward two steps back,” he adds.

The Business Insider line refers to an erroneously-reported hit piece in 2021 that framed Portnoy as a rapist. Business Insider has yet to correct its factual errors about him, two years later.

The hit pieces will continue. But what impact can they have? Are they going to make Portnoy like himself less?

They will have no impact at all.

Perhaps it is bloggers, like Laura Wagner, a very nasty woman, who have for years schemed to damage the Barstool brand who were the biggest losers of the sale.

Worth noting, Portnoy‘s contract with Barstool Sports was set to expire in January 2025 and had been non-commital to re-signing when asked about it last spring.

Months later, he not only is staying but again owns the ship.

Under Portnoy's ownership, Barstool becomes one of the largest independent media brands in the industry.

While Portnoy is its biggest star, the roster also includes Big Cat, PFT Commenter, and Kayce Smith -- all of whom should benefit from newfound freedom.

“More importantly, for us, for Barstool, 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," Portnoy comments.

Penn says it sold Barstool to Portnoy “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants” and the “right to receive 50% of the gross proceeds received by David Portnoy in any subsequent sale or other monetization event of Barstool.”

But according to Portnoy, he will never ever sell again: "By the way, I will never sell Barstool Sports , ever. I’ll hold it till I die.”

"It’s back to the pirate ship," concludes Dave Portnoy.