Do Not Give Dave Portnoy Any Money
The Barstool Sports founder has an authoritarian streak and disdains the American worker, so please don't participate in his PR stunt
Dave Portnoy, the meta-bro caricature of the guy who harasses you all night until you agree to go home with him incl. neck shave founder of Barstool sports is getting nice press for allegedly helping setting up a fund that helps small restaurants through the pandemic.
Portnoy himself hasn’t disclosed what, if any, of his own money (he’s worth an est. $120m) he’s given to the effort, but if the dashboard on his website is to be believed, “The Barstool Fund” has raised somewhere north of $27m from 190k donors. For the effort, Portnoy gets to make Ed McMahon-type FaceTime calls telling pre-screened individual business owners (winners!) that they’ve come out on top of his benevolence sweepstakes
A fully functioning government, one which Portnoy—a known Trump supporter and bro-ham frozen dinner scion Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson—would take care of the folks who are struggling, and it should raise a red flag that the famously anti-union/anti-worker Portnoy would do anything for the little guy that wasn’t a bit or a PR stunt.
It was the self-proclaimed El Presidente of Barstool (what’s with abusive white brosephs and their awful Spanish pseudonyms? Is it just latent aspirational Ron Mexico energy?) who in 2019 was under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on charges that he illegally threatened to fire his workers if they unionize.
By December of that year, Portnoy settled with the NLRB, which required that he, among other things, delete his threatening tweets and remove any potential anti-union material created by Barstool Sports.
So yeah, it’s safe to say the media company owner guy who famously sat with Donald Trump for a few hours on July 2020 and nodded at his every lie and misrepresentation with zero cunning or journalistic integrity; or even real prepared questions—is...not the friend of the working man.
If you want to help, go to your neighborhood struggling business and GIVE THEM MONEY. Or, check out an aggregated list of ways to give that are legit, vetted, and aren’t in the name of rehabbing a bad-faith multi-millionaire.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, most of Portnoy’s estimated worth comes from the 2016 sale (and subsequent move to New York) of the majority stake of Barstool to privately held media investment company The Chernin Group (TCG), owned by OG Fox c-suite bro, Peter Chernin. The company is backed by Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm, and other private investors. They, too, like to lay people off.
TCG’s biggest coup to date was selling its stake in now-defunct cumshot gif aggregator Tumblr in 2013 to Yahoo for $1.1 Billion
Late last year, Penn National Gaming bought a 36% stake in Barstool Sports off TCG for $163 million. Following the sale, the online sportsbook started to spin up Barstool-branded apps in individual states as they began to regulate and open online gambling operations. Penn National operates as an alternative to industry leaders DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.
Portnoy continues to run the Barstool site and has creative control. So, even though the Penn National money doesn’t flow directly to Portnoy’s pockets, it’s a pretty safe bet to miss them with that platform anyway.
The Daily 3:
As we celebrate the last day under aspiring authoritarian rule until they find a new way to surface like the Gremlins did in Gremlins II, here are three lines to consider tossing away your pittance on:
Thunder vs. Nuggets: Before getting an unexpected break Sunday as the 76ers put their season on pause for a game to follow a COVID-19 outbreak, beat the Bulls in an overtime effort Friday when they completed a thrilling comeback overtime win against the Bulls to knot their record at 6-6. The Nuggets, a preseason favorite in the West, are slogging through a 6-7 season, losing most recently Sunday to the Jazz in a re-match of last year’s first-round playoff. The Thunder, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, get 9.5 points on the road and should safely cover as the Nuggets continue to search for answers to pull them out of early-season middle-of-the-pack doldrums.
Sabres vs. Fliers: It’s all Buffalo all the time this week as the 1-2 Sabes put on on the 2-1 Fliers as Philly looked out of sorts without the services of Sean Couturier. The spread tightens for the Sabes +1.5 slightly for the turnaround game Tuesday but seems to be getting their groove back after dropping a pair to the Caps to start the season despite holding the edge in Corsi rating in both games. Buffalo and the points, yes, please.