Rethinking Barstool?

jcd0805

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I dipped my toe back into this world because I was interested in getting up to speed on what was happening over there, and, man alive, it’s gotta be super awesome to have the big boss run around discussing layoffs like this.

View: https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1696558720031797608?s=46&t=1S4eWjX_rzBBrpPNddRPAg
Especially because so many literally just moved halfway across country to keep their jobs. All I know is they need to protect Barstool Kate at all costs, that woman is the realest, funniest follow on my social media and it isn’t even close. I will root for her no matter where she’s working.
 

sodenj5

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Not unfair points. Their website is a bit of a mess and the only time I read a blog is if I stumble across a link to one that looks interesting on twitter. I've watched their live stream sporting game thing a couple times for a bit and have wondered who are all these people and what do they do.
I think you could make a pretty strong argument that if you slashed the company down to Pardon My Take and whatever production crew was involved with them, they would be very profitable pretty quickly. A few of the other podcasts seem to do fine. Maybe keep them as well.

Barstool is insanely bloated from a roster and talent perspective because Penn was footing the bill. I have no idea what they want to be as a company moving forward, but I would guess they could do it with 50% of their current overhead.
 

ManicCompression

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I think you could make a pretty strong argument that if you slashed the company down to Pardon My Take and whatever production crew was involved with them, they would be very profitable pretty quickly.
Which makes you wonder at this point why PMT would stay at Barstool if they're the only attraction. They could just set up a Substack and then not have to share anything with the rest of the company (or they might be able to get a pretty sweet deal from Spotify/The Ringer). If they ever had shares in the company, they likely got paid out when Portnoy got paid out.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Especially because so many literally just moved halfway across country to keep their jobs. All I know is they need to protect Barstool Kate at all costs, that woman is the realest, funniest follow on my social media and it isn’t even close. I will root for her no matter where she’s working.
Would she not be able to get another gig?
 

kenneycb

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Which makes you wonder at this point why PMT would stay at Barstool if they're the only attraction. They could just set up a Substack and then not have to share anything with the rest of the company (or they might be able to get a pretty sweet deal from Spotify/The Ringer). If they ever had shares in the company, they likely got paid out when Portnoy got paid out.
They aren’t the only attraction, the core 3 like working for / with Dave, they’re under contract (or at least PFT), they get benefit from the Barstool infrastructure / world and running your own podcast profitably is probably a giant pain. Big Cat basically built Barstool with Dave to what it is today so I can’t see him leaving given the creative freedom he gets.
 

Patriot_Reign

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Which makes you wonder at this point why PMT would stay at Barstool if they're the only attraction. They could just set up a Substack and then not have to share anything with the rest of the company (or they might be able to get a pretty sweet deal from Spotify/The Ringer). If they ever had shares in the company, they likely got paid out when Portnoy got paid out.
Big Cat is effectively #3 at BS behind Portnoy and Erica. Despite his "just a regular joe" schtick he's involved in the company's direction at the highest level and very well compensated for it.
And PFC has his hands in all sorts of stuff there besides PMT. A lot of the top talent there also work as executive producers for other shows so there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff their names aren't attached to as a host but they're heavily vested in.
Having said that, as mentioned a couple posts ago they could probably trim their "talent" roster down to <20 people and do just fine.
 

deythur

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Do blogs generate significant revenue? Who is still reading blogs? Who even goes to Barstool’s website?

I would imagine the lion’s share of their revenue comes from the podcasts and YouTube.

I haven’t a clue what 95% of them do besides sit around and shout at the TV during live streams.
The majority of the content creators at Barstool create blogs. They are generating clicks.

Here are some numbers for you:
Web and App - 14.7 million unique monthly views - mostly short blogs, links to other content and plenty of ad revenue
38.5 million IG followers
18.2 Twitter followers
9.2 million podcast listeners
5 million or so each on Tik Tok, Snap Chat and Facebook
4 Sirius XM listeners
1.5 YoutUbe Subscribers

A lot of the content is just recycled on each platform to hit all users.
 

ManicCompression

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Big Cat is effectively #3 at BS behind Portnoy and Erica. Despite his "just a regular joe" schtick he's involved in the company's direction at the highest level and very well compensated for it.
And PFC has his hands in all sorts of stuff there besides PMT. A lot of the top talent there also work as executive producers for other shows so there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff their names aren't attached to as a host but they're heavily vested in.
Having said that, as mentioned a couple posts ago they could probably trim their "talent" roster down to <20 people and do just fine.
Got it - didn't realize he was so involved on the business side. I was curious if at what point the Barstool brand hurts what they do more than helps it, but seems like they're pretty invested in the direction of the company (probably moreso now w/o Penn).
 

sodenj5

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The majority of the content creators at Barstool create blogs. They are generating clicks.

Here are some numbers for you:
Web and App - 14.7 million unique monthly views - mostly short blogs, links to other content and plenty of ad revenue
38.5 million IG followers
18.2 Twitter followers
9.2 million podcast listeners
5 million or so each on Tik Tok, Snap Chat and Facebook
4 Sirius XM listeners
1.5 YoutUbe Subscribers

A lot of the content is just recycled on each platform to hit all users.
Blogs can’t be generating that much revenue because Portnoy himself said they’re losing their shirt. That’s my point.

The website is a central gathering for all of their content, but no one actively follows and reads blogs, especially when they write at a legitimate third grade level.

Podcasts, YouTube, and probably short format content like TikTok is what’s making them money and driving clicks to their website.
 

Vinho Tinto

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The website is a central gathering for all of their content, but no one actively follows and reads blogs, especially when they write Podcasts, YouTube, and probably short format content like TikTok is what’s making them money and driving clicks to their website.
To your point, it is the podcasts and videos that they earn revenue from sponsors such as Chevy, High Noon and Paramount. They also use social media to push the crap out of their merch.
 

The Social Chair

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Everybody step up giving bad pizza reviews and gambling advice. We're an edgy media company of middle aged dorks that loves *checks notes* Tucker Calrson.
 

Marciano490

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How much time passed between Portnoy bragging about how much money he made and the layoffs?
 

sodenj5

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How much time passed between Portnoy bragging about how much money he made and the layoffs?
Well the two aren’t mutually exclusive. He objectively made a bunch of money selling Barstool and then getting it back for basically free.

The issue is keeping said money. Hence the layoffs.

I think Barstool is going to be fine. They were basically Penn’s marketing agency for a few years and now they aren’t. They’re trimming the head count now, and probably will again because most of their people aren’t making them any money.
 

Jungleland

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Dragon Pizza vid is something else. I'm not a diehard barstool guy so I kind of get the desire to tell him off, Portnoy makes me laugh but obv has his questionable aspects, but goddamn if that guy didn't go about it really, really poorly.

That said, the people brigading their instagram and yelp page are complete losers even if he outright invited at least some level of fallout.
 

jayhoz

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Dragon Pizza vid is something else. I'm not a diehard barstool guy so I kind of get the desire to tell him off, Portnoy makes me laugh but obv has his questionable aspects, but goddamn if that guy didn't go about it really, really poorly.

That said, the people brigading their instagram and yelp page are complete losers even if he outright invited at least some level of fallout.
Yeah, that owner knew who he was dealing with and made the worst decision possible for his business. He just couldn't resist the urge to "take a stand"!!

I agree that the people flooding their socials are losers and the owner doesn't deserve to have his business ruined no matter how stupid he is. That being said as of this post there have been 74 pages of 1 star reviews posted. Not sure how that ranks in terms of typical yelp bombings, but is seems impressive to me.
 

NickEsasky

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It’s too bad Dragon Pizza is actually really good.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Yeah, that owner knew who he was dealing with and made the worst decision possible for his business. He just couldn't resist the urge to "take a stand"!!

I agree that the people flooding their socials are losers and the owner doesn't deserve to have his business ruined no matter how stupid he is. That being said as of this post there have been 74 pages of 1 star reviews posted. Not sure how that ranks in terms of typical yelp bombings, but is seems impressive to me.
"No one man should have all that power" is basically what he's railing against, I don't know the best way to get it across but that was not it. Portnoy has the Covid fundraiser he can point to for eternity to claim 'No I am one of the better guys when it comes to supporting family restaurants.'

In no way do I otherwise consume Barstool, but sometimes if I see one of these 'One Bite' reviews on Facebook or Youtube I'll click on it just since it is a more compelling product than a random Phantom Gourmet restaurant review. But I take his scores with a huge grain of salt. Some of the pizza strengths and weaknesses he gives during these reviews are not my personal jam. For example I love a good floppy cheese pizza slice, it brings me back to childhood at the local Village and House of Pizza establishments in my small town. Nowadays it is all "Wood Fired", "Coal Fired" etc. and crispy slices are accepted as the norm...
 

Rovin Romine

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Dragon Pizza vid is something else. I'm not a diehard barstool guy so I kind of get the desire to tell him off, Portnoy makes me laugh but obv has his questionable aspects, but goddamn if that guy didn't go about it really, really poorly.

That said, the people brigading their instagram and yelp page are complete losers even if he outright invited at least some level of fallout.
Portnoy used his celebrity to shit all over a small pizza business. Then he got bent out of shape when the owner told him he didn't appreciate one-bite reviews.

That's all you need to know about him.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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Portnoy used his celebrity to shit all over a small pizza business. Then he got bent out of shape when the owner told him he didn't appreciate one-bite reviews.

That's all you need to know about him.
And did it on Tucker Carlson, no less. I'm sure he is fine, but that reeks of desperation and that he knows who his audience is.
 

Kliq

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Think I'll visit Dragon Pizza for a few slices for lunch. Fuck Portnoy forever.
 

Mystic Merlin

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‘I raised millions for small businesses’ - along with ‘I am rich’ - will clearly be another trump card to play whenever he finds himself being an asshole.

I also realized that his pizza videos are generally able to depict him as a beloved figure by the people because the kind of people who don’t like him are very unlikely to bomb his video, not to mention the free slices he sometimes hands out. He’s created a bizarre, low cost brand promotion platform for himself with these.
 

Rusty13

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Love him or hate him, but this Dragon Pizza incident was probably the best thing to happen for Portnoy and Barstool since the Penn sale. And it happened 2 weeks ago. So he planned this out perfectly for his Tucker interview etc. He knew what he was doing. On a side note: I guess that poor Goodfellas Pizza guy from a few years ago is finally off the hook!
 

Jungleland

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Portnoy used his celebrity to shit all over a small pizza business. Then he got bent out of shape when the owner told him he didn't appreciate one-bite reviews.

That's all you need to know about him.
I'm pretty anti Dave Portnoy overall, so don't mistake this for being an apologist, but that's not really what happened. He gave it a pretty mediocre review (and has acknowledged he doesn't like to go super harsh as he knows it can fuck with peoples' businesses), and the Dragon guy stormed outside without even knowing that and started an argument with him on camera. Portnoy's a piece of shit, and he loses any high ground he has in this argument when he starts yelling about the guy being fat and how rich he is, but he didn't start it and I think just about anyone with a food review video platform is posting a video where the place they're reviewing starts shit on camera mid review.

I've side eyed Dragon ever since the owner posted a receipt with a guy's name, phone number, and address on instagram when he didn't tip enough on a delivery. That said, I don't root for anyone who isn't racist/bigoted/abusive to lose their business, and they do have pretty good pizza, so I hope he can weather the storm.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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It's always worth remembering that Portnoy is an enormous piece of shit, with a long and documented history of being an enormous piece of shit, and any controversies or conflicts involving him have to be viewed within that lens.

There might be two parties in the wrong, but Portnoy will always be in the wrong no matter what.
 

jezza1918

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It's always worth remembering that Portnoy is an enormous piece of shit, with a long and documented history of being an enormous piece of shit, and any controversies or conflicts involving him have to be viewed within that lens.

There might be two parties in the wrong, but Portnoy will always be in the wrong no matter what.
Id like to subscribe to your newsletter please, sir.
The pure pizza review part of that video didnt seem egregious in this case, and he did try to qualify it numerous times with "it might have been our fault for leaving it in the box too long" etc etc. But then he quickly turned into the aforementioned piece of shit.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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As a huge BS (Portnoy) hater, I have secretly very much enjoyed the Macrodosing pod. This incident reminds me of who I am supporting. I am out. There are too many good podcasts to listen to out there that benefit decent people.
 

RedOctober3829

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I watched the video and I don't think Dave really did anything wrong. The owner initiated the confrontation, shouted random crap at Dave with nothing to back it up with and it escalated from there. Whether you like him or not, he did raise a lot of money for small businesses in need.
 

The Social Chair

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I watched the video and I don't think Dave really did anything wrong. The owner initiated the confrontation, shouted random crap at Dave with nothing to back it up with and it escalated from there. Whether you like him or not, he did raise a lot of money for small businesses in need.
Yes.. he does remind people a lot of the one good thing the Barstool PR team put together. Usually they spend their time defending Portnoy from sexual misconduct allegations.
 

Kliq

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Dragon Pizza is hopping for lunch, can't upload photo, unfortunately.
 

gammoseditor

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I'm pretty anti Dave Portnoy overall, so don't mistake this for being an apologist, but that's not really what happened. He gave it a pretty mediocre review (and has acknowledged he doesn't like to go super harsh as he knows it can fuck with peoples' businesses), and the Dragon guy stormed outside without even knowing that and started an argument with him on camera. Portnoy's a piece of shit, and he loses any high ground he has in this argument when he starts yelling about the guy being fat and how rich he is, but he didn't start it and I think just about anyone with a food review video platform is posting a video where the place they're reviewing starts shit on camera mid review.

I've side eyed Dragon ever since the owner posted a receipt with a guy's name, phone number, and address on instagram when he didn't tip enough on a delivery. That said, I don't root for anyone who isn't racist/bigoted/abusive to lose their business, and they do have pretty good pizza, so I hope he can weather the storm.
To be fair, Dragon Pizza had said something negative about him before he showed up and he knew it. Then he started his review like any other and pretended to be objective. He was not being objective before the confrontation and he was looking for a confrontation. Afterwards he posted on X, “I’ve been waiting to go after the Dragon Pizza in Somerville guy for weeks”.
 

jayhoz

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To be fair, Dragon Pizza had said something negative about him before he showed up and he knew it. Then he started his review like any other and pretended to be objective. He was not being objective before the confrontation and he was looking for a confrontation. Afterwards he posted on X, “I’ve been waiting to go after the Dragon Pizza in Somerville guy for weeks”.
I'm pretty sure the waiting for weeks comment is in reference to the amount of time he has been sitting on the review video.
 

Senator Donut

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I mean, sure it was low hanging fruit, but my stance about Portnoy is the same: he's an immense piece of shit and saying "oh he helped small businesses a few times" doesn't paper that over.
Right, but if we were to play out your weird-ass analogy, if I got a chance to mock Hitler while he was filming a video, I wouldn't yell "you're mean to dogs!" but rather one of the many more valid and serious criticisms.
 

CPT Neuron

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On a side note, my "son" (wife's son) saw Portnoy in the Old Port earlier this week....so somewhere in the Old Port is getting the 1 bite review.
 

jon abbey

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On top of everything else with Portnoy, he has shitty taste in pizza. I watched a few he did of places I know very well at one point, and he is just bad at it.
 

gammoseditor

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I'm pretty sure the waiting for weeks comment is in reference to the amount of time he has been sitting on the review video.
Apologies, looking this up I’m wrong. I saw well before the review that people couldn’t wait for him to review Dragon Pizza so I thought there was a history. It must have just been buzz about the altercation.
 

Marciano490

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Was expecting more wit from Portnoy there. Seemed like any two bros yelling in the street. He kept trying to hit him with that “your shirt is 6 sizes too small”’ line.