Barstool Sports is a sports media and entertainment blog covering the latest news and viral highlights of the day. They do this through blogs, videos and podcasts. Their slogan is ‘by the common man, for the common man.’ This case study, which I completed for my final course in graduate school, examines how and why they have been so successful.
How Can A Company Like Barstool Push Out Sports Media Giants?
Barstool Sports has leveraged social media in a way that no one ever has before. The outlet is described in so many ways. It is humorous, satirical, and brilliant. It is offensive, abrasive, and misogynistic. But most of all; polarizing. The outlet is a magnet to people of all walks of life. They are desperate to lift it up, share its content, prove it is awful, or good. Barstool instills a mission into people just by bearing its very name. The Chicago startup turned media giant is the leader in sports media and entertainment worldwide. Big enough for the CEO and founder to take swings in the media and receive feedback, criticism, and praise from politicians, political commentators, and some of the most powerful men in all of sports and media.
Barstool Sports has been battered by scandal. Battered by public criticism and hatred from a public that grows more politically correct with each passing moment. Not that benign politically correct should carry a negative connotation. The media company, now turned media giant, has emerged as a legitimate alternative to ESPN, Bleacher Report, and many others for sports coverage, commentary, memes, and more. “With an online platform and a growing base of diehard supporters, Barstool was able to generate considerable revenue from merchandise sales as opposed to premium subscription-based content that many other online publication companies rely on,” remarked one writer (Provvisionato, 2020).
Though many companies have changed their stance and operations away from the premium subscription-based content model, the timing is what made Barstool so brilliant in comparison to others. While others were charging for their content, Barstool was free. It offered humor, raunchy clips, and sports. During a key time for growth of major social platforms, they were able to avoid alienating a portion of their supporters. Limiting access to their content with a paywall would have done exactly that. Their social media is simply so successful because they do not care. They post what they like. What they find entertaining. And they do it all with no filter.
An Overview Of Where Barstool Came From
Barstool Sports led me to launching the Midwest Sports Network back in 2019. Later on I launched three other web based outlets. I was late to the party. Part of what I will explain is how important timing was to Portnoy’s success -such as when he got to work, timing on company decisions and policies. All things that were timed perfectly. Sometimes strategically, sometimes accidentally. I think they do a wonderful job of rebuking traditional means of media. I am often saddened to see some of the negative press, and the actions they have caused to elicit it, but nonetheless impressed with their continuous progress.
In 2003, Dave Portnoy was just 26-years-old. Big tech was emerging as the future of business, and Portnoy decided to throw his hat in the ring. Portnoy was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He fell in love with sports at a young age. He attended one of the biggest sports institutions in the nation, the University of Michigan, and graduated in 1995 with a degree in education. Portnoy founded Barstool Sports because he felt there was a void in analysis of sports betting. It was 2003 when he launched the local Boston Newspaper. In 2007, a fan of the paper asked Portnoy if he could build him a website for Barstool. “From that point on it became clear that this was going to be the history of Barstool,” Portnoy told the Daily Mail.
One thing that is difficult to define with a company like Barstool Sports is where their corporate social responsibility (CSR) is aligned. Many would argue that they hold no sense of corporate social responsibility. But after a second look, you may find they indeed are very conscious of the impact they can and do have. “CSR asks companies to consider the effects of their businesses on social and environmental conditions,” explains Lipschultz. “Corporate citizens operating within a CSR model would consider long-term social interests, not just quarterly profits” (Lipschultz, p. 114). While it is true there is almost no CSR displayed through their social media channels and feeds, one would be surprised to find what the owner and founder has brought to the table.
As of December of 2020, Portnoy had raised nearly $30M for 167 small businesses. Business owners told Fox News business that they were both ‘honored and humbled’ to be selected by the sports media and entertainment giant. Portnoy launched the fundraising effort for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 called “The Barstool Fund” on December 17th, and contributed $500,000 of his own money toward the goal. Brian, a reporter and onair host for 107.7 GNA, put it best when he recapped one Pizza Review that Portnoy had done. “At around 6pm on Friday, life changed for Frank Scavio, part owner of the locally owned and family operated Paesan’s Pizza of the Capital Region,” wrote Brian. “That’s when, like many others, I was thrilled to see Paesan’s get national love and tons of local attention when one of their frozen pizzas was reviewed by Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy.” That sums up the impact this man can have. He’s swearing, he seems like he might be angry. He’s often sweating, stressed, and trying to finish the review quickly. It is often hilarious, inappropriate, and sort of wild to watch. But even though it’s funny, and often less than family friendly, Portnoy is doing a good thing. He supports and saves small businesses. Owned by people who are not corporate specialists and directors of major brands. They are local families, who spend that money locally. It’s beautiful to see these people rewarded.
Introducing Barstool Sports: Who Are They?
An online community pioneer, Barstool has emphasized the need to produce content, and not simply be a consumer of it (Rheingold, 2014). Barstool certainly accomplishes this, sending out hundreds of thousands of pieces of content from hundreds of accounts each year. Portnoy, who began Barstool by handing out newspapers on street corners and in train stations, now has an estimated net worth of $118 million. The entrepreneur and founder of the company personally provides pizza reviews, stock market and sports betting tips. He seems to have reached the pinnacle of internet and sports media celebrity. At this point, the sports media empire just continues to grow to new heights, now with millions of followers on each platform.
Several female sportswriters have reported harassment from Barstool’s employees. These sportswriters place a large portion of the blame on Dave Portnoy (Silverman, 2018). Portnoy once said during a Barstool radio program that a 20-year-old employee of the company would be too ugly for camera in five years (Bogage, 2019). “During the radio program, which airs on SiriusXM, Portnoy justified the remarks by pointing out he said similar things about male on-camera hosts at the company,” wrote Bogage. NBC News’ Shannon Ho once wrote in an article that the replies to a tweet from the company were “a direct and deliberate contrast to the ascendance of political correctness.” In the full story, Ho goes on to examine Barstool Sports and the persistence of traditional masculinity in sports culture (Ho, 2020). This type of examination is ironically a portion of why they attract and feed off of the crowd. In fact, my very case study will feed the energy that pushes this forward.
For each person that passionately feeds off of the negative, there is another individually that passionately pushes back against the brand. That struggle is what Barstool Sports, and many media outlets, feed off of. No better example exists than the standing war between CNN and Fox News. James Pasley laid out the very beginnings of the struggle in a recent examination of the battle between the two media giants. “Before Fox News was created, its owner, Rupert Murdoch, had been ‘at odds with CNN’s founder Ted Turner for years. He wanted to beat and discredit CNN,” explains the piece (Pasley, 2019). He goes on to describe Fox News as “more of a talk-show network than a news network,” explaining that “it thrived by filling a void of conservative media coverage.” He also explains that CNN has “the ability to be on the ground, reporting. But it’s commentary felt forced.” In 2019, Emily Tamkin wrote for Columbia Journalism Review, “It’s just that what is mostly reflected on the screen—especially during prime time—seems to be less news reporting, more punditry, more round tables, more horse-race politics, more talking heads, more interviews and interviewees yelling at each other, more that makes the news more confusing for the viewer” (CJR, 2019). What is the relevance of these networks and their controversy? They’re feeding opinions of their dedicated audience and feeding into the dislike of the opposition. They’re keeping the debate going, which people cannot simply turn away from. This is exactly what Barstool Sports regularly does with their content.
Barstool Creates A Splash On Social Media Like No One Else
In November of last year Alek Arend from The Spun said 43-year-old Portnoy has grown Barstool Sports from “solely a sports media company to a digital media company that focuses on both sports and pop-culture.” Fast Company’s overview of the brand says that “The company has long been an innovator in diversifying the traditional media business model.” This is very true. You may remember that earlier on this paper I said Barstool Sports is what inspired me to launch the Midwest Sports Network back in 2019. I have since launched three other web based outlets. I was late to the party. But this company was not. Barstool is right on time, as they are leading the charge on innovation in sports media. Becoming a complete media company as they are is going to be critical for radio, television, newsprint, and other terrestrial media outlets going forward.
“Don’t get caught up in a bland, PC world,” wrote Christian Zilles of Social Media HQ. Portnoy and his crew have avoided that problem by a mile, as they steer where the world of social media is headed. As sports giants like ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and others have struggled with their models and struggled to keep staff onboard as they have gone through layoffs, Barstool has continued to grow. “Perhaps the biggest factor working in the favor of Barstool Sports is the site’s willingness to take on controversy,” commented Zilles. “Barstool Sports is not about hearing from expensively paid sports analysts in suits – it’s about average guys just talking about sports.”
That’s just it. Their content is tailored to the common guy, because it’s literally just a bunch of casual people pushing out that content. The polished professionalism of a network broadcast, or a newsroom at a major newspaper, has been left on the cutting room floor. Instead it’s operated like a frat house. I know that sounds insulting, but it isn’t. It’s simply a bunch of people creating content that genuinely is of interest to them, instead of targeting a market and trying to come up with what will interest them, but is still audience appropriate.
This strategy has come with its own set of consequences. In 2019, Awful Announcing’s Andrew Bucholtz reported that Barstool Sports’ primary Twitter and Instagram accounts deleted over 61,000 posts (60,368 from Twitter, over 1,000 from Instagram). That same report goes on to lay out many potential issues with their practices, citing numerous sources.
Results Brought Together By Barstool Sports
According to Comparably, Barstool Sports is the #1 read, independent, sport & men’s lifestyle online publication in the country. Barstool Sports commands an audience of ten million on Instagram, nearly fifteen million on TikTok, three million on Twitter, over four million on Facebook, and nearly nine hundred thousand on YouTube. Comparably lists Barstool’s competitors as ESPN, Bowl America, The Onion and theCHIVE. Millions upon millions of readers visit their website each day to consume various pieces of content produced by the company. Similar Web says that they’re 28th in sports for daily visitors, with nearly nine and a quarter million people coming to their site each day. The average reader visits two and a half pages, and stays for nearly four minutes.
Why Barstool Continues To Win
So what has been the number one factor in Barstool’s success as a brand? Why have they won time and time again? It probably is largely due in part to the obvious lack of discretion for the content that they collect and redistribute. Lipschultz makes an argument that would make sense in this case however. “Chief executive officers may play an important role in developing social media PR success stories,” he explains. “PR News reported that CEO sociability may have a positive impact on company reputation, and CEO blogging magnifies the effect” (Lipschultz, p.116). With the statistics mentioned moments ago in mind, it will be interesting to see how Barstool continues to grow. They have exploded on new age platforms, lagging behind on the originals and the big guys. This is a sign in my mind that Barstool still has a lot of gas left in the tank for growth. And I believe they can thank the likes of Dave Portnoy.
This featured image for this case study is courtesy of Barstool Sports. For more sports, news, and entertainment, follow us on Twitter @MWSNsports or like our page on Facebook.
References:
Barstool sports: Most innovative company. Fast Company. (2000, January 1). https://www.fastcompany.com/company/barstool-sports.
Barstool Sports competitors. Comparably. (2021, August 20). https://www.comparably.com/companies/barstool-sports/competitors.
Barstoolsports.com Traffic Ranking & Marketing Analytics. Similarweb. (n.d.). https://www.similarweb.com/website/barstoolsports.com/#overview.
Bogage, J. (2019, April 29). Barstool Sports founder says 20-year-old employee will be too ugly for camera in five years. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/06/29/barstool-sports-co-founder-says-20-year-old-employee-will-be-too-ugly-for-camera-in-five-years/?noredirect=on.
Bucholtz, A., Joe Lucia OnAug 20, 2021 0, Ian Casselberry OnAug 20, 2021 0, Ken Fang OnAug 20, 2021 0, Andrew Bucholtz OnAug 19, 2021 0, & Ian Casselberry OnAug 19, 2021 0. (2020, July 8). Barstool sports deletes over 61,000 social media posts after content theft controversy. Awful Announcing. https://awfulannouncing.com/barstool/barstool-deletes-61000-social-media-posts-erika-nardini-wont-apologize.html.
Cjr. (n.d.). CNN public editor: What actually is CNN? Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/public_editor/cnn-coverage-reporting.php. \
Conklin, A. (2021, January 22). Barstool’s Dave Portnoy raises nearly $30m for 167 small businesses – and counting. Fox Business. https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/barstools-dave-portnoy-millions-small-business-fund.
Dailymail.com, C. S. F. (2016, November 23). How barstool sports grew from a local Boston paper into a media empire. Daily Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3960576/Saturdays-boys-Barstool-Sports-grew-local-Boston-paper-media-empire.html.
Ho, S. (2020, June 27). Barstool Sports and the persistence of traditional masculinity in sports culture. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/barstool-sports-persistence-traditional-masculinity-sports-culture-n1057061.
Pasley, J. (2019, December 31). Fox News and CNN are 2 of America’s biggest news sources – but they couldn’t be more different. here’s how they’ve changed in the past decade. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-cnn-change-evolution-2010-2019-11#changes-at-cnn-had-become-more-noticeable-too-50.
Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris. Social Media Communication. Taylor and Francis.
Provvisionato, M. (2020, June 12). The incredible rise of barstool sports. SnoQap. https://www.snoqap.com/posts/2020/2/10/the-incredible-rise-of-barstool-sports.
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Silverman, R. (2018, September 24). Inside barstool sports’ culture of online hate: ‘they
treat sexual harassment and cyberbullying as a game’. The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-barstool-sports-culture-of-online-hate-they-treat-sexual-harassment-and-cyberbullying-as-a-game.
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