Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is known to call “Emergency Press Conference’s” from time to time. That’s exactly what he did on July 1 when the NCAA changed its regulations on college athletes profiting off their name, image and likeness.
During the “press conference,” Portnoy announced the start of Barstool Athletes Inc., a new sports agency that will represent college athletes.
The idea came from Adelaide Halverson, a Jacksonville State volleyball player who direct messaged Portnoy on Instagram asking if Barstool would represent her.
While the idea for Barstool to start this company came somewhat on a whim, Portnoy has a history of turning random ideas into successful, money-making opportunities.
According to Sportico, CSM Sport & Entertainment Insights manager Andy Marston said long-established agencies shouldn’t overlook Barstool entering the sports agency space.
“Many agencies [know they] are underprepared when it comes to having their own audience,” said Marston. “[The Barstool announcement was a reminder that] if they don’t build up [or acquire] an audience of their own, they may start losing top talent to media-led companies that can offer greater attention and greater [financial] rewards.”
Sportico notes that when it comes to social reach, Barstool has just under 3 million Twitter followers. Wasserman has the most of any big four sports agency at just over 30 thousand followers.
Right now, most agencies use third-party data and targeting, but with large companies beginning to block much of the data-tracking that allowed Google and Facebook advertising to be so targeted, Marston predicts that sports agencies will look “to acquire media companies” and the audience that comes with them moving forward.
As reported by Sportico, Chris Ebmeyer, VP, Director of Media Services at 160over90, believes that while we “might see agencies acquiring media [platforms] and acquiring audiences,” it’s more likely we’ll see media companies introducing agencies, similar to Barstool Athletes Inc.
“It provides them with a way to cater to advertisers in a greater fashion,” said Ebermeyer.