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Barstool Sports
Type of site
Blog
CEOErika Nardini
URLbarstoolsports.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional

Barstool Sports is a popular satirical[2] sports and men's lifestyle blog founded by David Portnoy in Milton, Massachusetts. The site is currently headquartered in NoMad, New York City.[3][4]

History

Barstool first launched as a print publication distributed in the Boston metropolitan area offering gambling advertisements and fantasy sports projections, but later expanded to encompass other topics.[5]

In April 2014, AOL announced that it would be airing exclusive online content from Barstool Sports.[6]

Change in ownership

Purchase

On January 7, 2016, Portnoy announced The Chernin Group had purchased a majority stake (51%) of Barstool Sports and the site would be moving its headquarters to New York City. Portnoy will continue to run the site and retain complete creative control over the content.[7]

Background

Chernin Group president of digital Mike Kerns appeared on the inaugural episode of Portnoy's podcast, The Dave Portnoy Show, to discuss the acquisition. During the appearance, Kerns and Portnoy detailed the beginning of talks, when Kerns was put into contact with Portnoy via a mutual friend in former University of Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen. After an initial phone call, Kerns took a private plane from San Francisco to Boston in order to have dinner with Portnoy, discuss vision for Barstool and the future of the brand, and begin preliminary talks of an acquisition.[8]

Restructuring

Following the acquisition, and as a result of no longer being the majority owner, Portnoy adopted the title of Chief of Content. Barstool U head writer Keith Markovich, aka KMarko, was also announced as the sites' new head editor.[9] On July 19, 2016, Erika Nardini, former chief marketing officer of AOL, was announced as the CEO of Barstool Sports.[10]

Content

David Portnoy has described the site's topics as "sports/smut."[11]

Personalities

Main/Full-Time Bloggers

  • Dave Portnoy aka El Presidente (Boston)
  • Kevin Clancy aka KFC (New York)
  • Dan Katz aka Big Cat (Chicago)
  • Jared Carrabis aka Carrabis (Boston and Barstool Baseball)
  • John Feitelberg aka "Feits" (Boston)
  • Justin Clemenza aka The Clem Report (New York)
  • Keith Markovich aka KMarko (BarstoolU)
  • Chris Spagnuolo aka Chris Spags (Barstool U and former Head of Business Development)
  • Adam Smith aka Smitty (Philadelphia)
  • Eric Nathan aka Nate (DMV, provider of Barstool Perks)
  • Trent Ryan aka Trent (Iowa)
  • Caleb Pressley, formerly known as Daddy Dixie (Dixie and Video Personality, former backup quarterback/supervisor of morale at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
  • Wayne Tables aka PFT Commenter (Danger Zone, formerly of SB Nation and Kissing Suzy Kolber)
  • Sam Shaw (Nebraska, formerly of NeutralZoneBulletin.com)
  • Riggs (Political blogger)
  • Uncle Chaps (Formerly of NFL.com)

Part Time Bloggers

  • Kat Timpf (Podcast Host and Political Correspondent, also works at Fox with The Greg Gutfeld Show, as well as National Review Online)
  • Brian McGonagle aka Rear Admiral (Boston/Bruins Ice Hockey)
  • Eric Pops (Boston)
  • Dan Greenberg, aka Greenie (Boston/Celtics Basketball)
  • Jack Jokinen aka JJ (New York/Yankees Baseball)
  • Joe Caporoso aka TurnOnTheJets (New York Jets Football)
  • 610 (New York)
  • Charlie Freyre aka CharlieWisco (New York and Podcast Producer)
  • Connor (New York/Islanders Ice Hockey)
  • Ryan aka Chief (Chicago/Blackhawks Ice Hockey)
  • Sobol (Chicago)
  • Sam aka Sam's Army (Chicago and Soccer)
  • Dave aka White Sox Dave (Chicago)
  • Carl (Chicago)
  • Eddie (Chicago)
  • Frederic (Chicago)
  • Jordie (Philly and Ice Hockey)
  • Sam Alaska (DMV and Barstool Baseball)
  • Banks (DMV)
  • RDT (DMV and Barstool Baseball)

Non-Bloggers

  • Henry Lockwood aka Handsome Hank (Video Production, Producer of Pardon My Take Podcast)
  • Paul Gulczynski aka Gaz aka Sales Guy (Former head of sales, now video production, Portnoy's right-hand man and social media)
  • Millmore (Video Production, tech, media [GIFs, online videos etc.])
  • Beardo (Business Development)
  • Dylan King (Video Production)
  • Louis Roberts (Sales)
  • Sophie Brownstein aka Sophie Julia (Host of Barstool Sports: The Life)
  • Coley (Social media)
  • Rico Bosco (Gambling and Internet Pit Bull)
  • Glenny Balls (Caleb's Intern)
  • Ria (Glenny's Intern)
  • Loud Sean (Video)
  • Lights Out Merriman (Office Manager)
  • Erika Nardini (CEO)
  • Jay Danahy (CRO)

Former Employees

  • Jenna Mourey aka Jenna Marbles (Current YouTube personality)
  • Jerry Thornton (Current on-air talent and columnist at WEEI-93.7 FM in Boston)
  • Maurice Peebles aka Mo (Current Deputy Editor at Complex Sports)
  • Neil (Unknown)
  • Pirate Simon
  • Intern Dana
  • Nick Hall (Current comedian and YouTube Personalty as Coach Kent Murphy)
  • Ben Councell aka Busboy Benny (Former linebacker at the University of Notre Dame, former driver of the Barstool Dixie RV during the Dixie Tour)
  • Yev Belilovsky aka Yev (Former video production for the Barstool Dixie Tour)
  • Tall One aka Connor Toole (Elite Daily)
  • Barstool Scott (Yankees/Knicks/Giants blogger)
  • Blind Mike (Boston Intern)
  • Weird Haircut Seth (Former Mayoral Campaign Manager for Portnoy, Can throw a football over them mountains)

Traffic

Barstool and its affiliated sites generate over 5 million unique page views monthly.[12]

Franchise sites

  • Boston
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Chicago
  • DMV (Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia)
  • Iowa
  • Barstool U
  • Dixie
  • StoolLaLa (defunct)
  • Los Angeles (defunct)

Podcasts

  • KFC Radio (KFC featuring Feitelberg, Big Cat)
  • KFC Radio: Mailtime (KFC)
  • The Dave Portnoy Show
  • Pardon My Take (Big Cat, PFT Commenter, Hank [Producer])
  • Caleb Pressley Show
  • Kat Timpf Show
  • Section 10 Podcast (Carrabis)
  • Zero Blog Thirty (Chaps)
  • The Blog Fathers (KFC, Chaps, Clem)
  • Spittin' Chiclets (Rear Admiral, Ryan Whitney)

Charitable work

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings Barstool Sports raised $250,000 for the victims of the attack. Barstool also frequently raises funds for veterans' causes and animal welfare. In 2015, following the slaying of two NYPD officers, Barstool Sports' NYC representative Kevin Clancy raised $104,000 to help the officers families.[13][14][2]

Controversies

Babygate

In August 2011, the site received criticism over nude photos of American football quarterback Tom Brady's 2-year-old son, which was accompanied by comments describing the size of the child's genitalia, which a former prosecutor suggested was sexualization of a minor.[15] Portnoy argued that the comments were meant to be humorous in tone and was not intended to be seen as sexual.[15]

Rape criticism

The site has received repeated criticism over content posted on Barstool Sports that critics of the site allege normalizes rape culture. Comments that have sparked debate include a post on a 2010 blog where Portnoy joked "[E]ven though I never condone rape if you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?"[16] Other elements that have received criticism include comments such as “we don't condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties ... however if a chick passes out that's a gray area”.[17] Portnoy, in response, has stated that, “...It’s not our intent, with jokes, to poke fun at rape victims," while pointing out the satirical nature of the sites' content.[18] A Northeastern University protest group called Knockout Barstool held a demonstration outside of a 2012 Blackout party at Boston's House of Blues, where they gathered more than 100 people.[19] Portnoy has been openly dismissive of the protest group and has accused them of being serial protesters.[16][17][20]

Blackout parties

The Blackout Tour parties have been criticized for promoting excessive drinking and allowing underage drinking, as well as for assaults that have occurred at the proceedings.[21] On February 2012, then-Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino expressed concern through a spokesperson over the parties' promotion of "excessive drinking to the point of blacking out" and that such promotion would not be a good message for the city.[21] State Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission agents and club security at a House of Blues event in Boston the following month confiscated 300 fake identifications and refused admission for around three-fourths of the event's 2000 ticket holders.[22] Shortly thereafter Portnoy announced that the company would not be scheduling more of the events in Boston, stating that "it just doesn’t seem like Boston is friendly to nightlife of our sort, at least”.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Barstoolsports.com Site Info". Alexa. Alexa Internet Inc. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  2. ^ a b "Running Strong: How Barstool Sports helped bombing victim". Comcast SportsNet New England. April 18, 2014.
  3. ^ "Barstool Sports Relocating Boston HQ to Full Floor in NoMad Building". Commercial Observer. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  4. ^ Downey, Amy J. (December 2010). "David Portnoy Profile: Is This Really Boston's Next Media Mogul?". Boston Magazine. Metrocorp, Inc.
  5. ^ Ankeny, Jason (December 13, 2013). "The Man Behind the 'Bible of Bro Culture'". Entrepreneur.
  6. ^ "Barstool Sports to air exclusive content on AOL.com". AOL. April 21, 2014.
  7. ^ "The Chernin Group Is Taking a Majority Stake In Controversial Website Barstool Sports". Re/code. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  8. ^ Portnoy, Dave. "The Dave Portnoy Show". www.podcastone.com. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  9. ^ "How To Join The Barstool Writing Dream Team". Barstool Sports. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  10. ^ "Barstool Sports Names New CEO and It's Not Who You'd Expect". Fortune. July 19, 2016.
  11. ^ Baker, Billy (June 3, 2011). "Here, a hangout for trash talking". The Boston Globe.
  12. ^ "I Am Dave Portnoy, Owner And Founder Of BarstoolSports.com". Reddit. January 9, 2013.
  13. ^ "'Boston Strong' Merchandise Rushed To Market As Americans Eager To Wear Their Solidarity". Huffington Post. April 23, 2013.
  14. ^ "Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post Takes a Cheap Shot at the Stool For Outing the Duke Pornstar or Something". February 28, 2014.
  15. ^ a b Stevens, Carl (August 12, 2011). "Barstool founder defends posting naked photos of Tom Brady's son". CBS Boston. CBS Local Media. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  16. ^ a b Kingkade, Tyler (March 27, 2012). "Barstool Sports rape 'joke' sparks blackout party backlash". Huffington Post. AOL Inc. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  17. ^ a b "Editorial: Knockout Barstool – When college humor goes too far". The New Hampshire. University of New Hampshire. February 13, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  18. ^ "The Barstool podium". The Boston Globe. February 12, 2012.
  19. ^ Dobbs, Taylor (February 3, 2012). "Knockout group protests Barstool party". The Huntington News. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  20. ^ Kagan, Aaron (March 30, 2012). "Controversial 'Blackout Parties' Flee Boston". Eater Boston. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  21. ^ a b Wedge, Dave (February 9, 2012). "Mayor Menino not taking 'blackout' bashes lightly". The Boston Herald. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  22. ^ a b Zaremba, John (March 29, 2012). "Barstool "Blackout" parties leaving Boston, founder says". The Boston Herald. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
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