Kerns then flew out to Boston from San Francisco to meet Portnoy, asking him what he would do if they gave him the money. He found humor in their social media posts, like the one that showed him doing a belly flop into a pool during the 2015 Final Four tournament. Lorenzen, a member of the Giants 2007 Super Bowl-winning team and who Portnoy affectionately notes was 'known for being one of the fattest quarterbacks,' had become a fan of Barstool over the years, Portnoy explains that to do this, Kerns went through the agent of former New York Giants quarterback Jared Lorenzen, asking if he could maybe get his client to talk to Portnoy and set up an initial conversation. It was The Chernin Group's newly appointed Head of Digital Mike Kerns who sought out Portnoy to try and convince him to sell his stake in the company. Portnoy said he had no interest though time after time, so it came as a bit of a shock in January of this year when it was revealed that a 51 percent stake in Barstol had been purchased by The Chernin Group.ĭetails of the sale were not revealed, but the company's valuation at the time was put somewhere between approximately $10 and $15million. investors began taking an interest in the budding media empire Portnoy had been putting together as well, and approached him with offers. 'I never put a penny into it, all the money that was coming in was going back out for Barstool and to find writers.' 'And it was all word of mouth,' adds Portnoy in response to how quick everything seemed to grow in just a few short years. It was not just the paper and website either, but also the introduction of a Barstool concert series as well as merchandise that could be purchased by readers. There was also a college vertical called Barstool U.īy that point explained Portnoy, Barstool had already exceeded even his widest expectations. It was around this time that Barstool began launching in other US cities including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago to name a few. The paper had a sizable fan base by that point, and Portnoy and his staff had been honing the voice of the publication for four years, finding the perfect tone to start their own blog. 'From that point on it became clear that this was going to be the history of Barstool,' said Portnoy, whose distribution model in the early days involved hiring local homeless people by the Boston T stations to hand out the paper. Then, in 2007, a man in New York who was a fan of the paper asked Portnoy if he could build him a website for Barstool. 'Over time we started going away from just hardcore sports and gambling to have more a lifestyle feel,' said Portnoy.īarstool found David Portnoy and CEO Erika Nardini The paper's look soon changed after its launch as well, when the cover began featuring a local woman, who most of time dressed up in lingerie. Over the next four years the paper slowly began to grow, with stories and commentary on men's interest also starting to make their way into the print version. 'So the paper was really hardcore sports, hardcore gambling, fantasy football - and I would hand it out outside subway in Boston,' said Portnoy, who released his first print issue of the paper in 2003. Portnoy said that he was told however that if he started a newspaper, offshore sportbooks would purchase advertisement space in the publication. He attempted to get a marketing position with off shore casinos he said, until he was told after flying out to Las Vegas from Boston that he did not have enough experience to be considered for a job. 'I hated my job and I wanted to find something I liked doing, and I gambled,' said Portnoy, who is better known as 'El Pres' by members of Barstool nation. It's satirical take on everything from athletes to the best pizza has earned it a loyal following who not only read the site but are also devoted to their social media pages, their podcasts, and their unique line of clothing.Īnd it all began with Dave Portnoy, who started the business out of his home in Milton, Massachusetts. In just over 10 years, Barstool Sports has grown from a small paper that was passed out to commuters at public transport stations in Boston into one of the most popular sports blogs in the country.
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