Pat McAfee is headed to ESPN and he has acknowledged that some of his most devoted fans are not happy about it. Charles Barkley was a guest on his show Friday and offered some advice for dealing with critics.
“Listen, I was watching you last week and you said people give you a hard time for taking your new deal. Tell them to shut the f*** up, alright?”
Barkley, who revealed that he and McAfee are friends and text regularly, said that he is happy to see the show break new ground and have success. He added that the people complaining are not thinking about the situation logically.
“I just laugh. I’m like, ‘Well, who the f*** don’t take a better job?'”.
McAfee admitted last week that he underestimated the number of listeners and fans that were upset. After it was announced that he was joining ESPN, he was inundated with messages from fans worried that he was going to let Disney change his uncensored show.
He was disappointed by the lack of faith in the show and trust in him implied. He told Charles Barkley that the kind of advice someone with the Hall of Famer’s track record was offering meant a lot.
“I appreciate you, Chuck,” he said. “Hey, I need to hear that. I need to hear that because you have been a trailblazer in my world, in the media world, obviously.”
Dana White stands by what he said about suits ruining great businesses on the Pat McAfee Show earlier this week. But he clarified that when he mentioned issues at Barstool Sports, that was not criticism for that specific brand. His problem is with Penn Gaming, which acquired Barstool earlier this year.
“I had a situation yesterday with Barstool and it’s turning into a corporate f***ing shitshow too,” he said on McAfee’s Thursday show. “It’s what happens when you get these f***ing suits involved in your business.”
Earlier in the conversation, White implied that he was worried about what may happen to the show once McAfee and crew move to ESPN. He said, “most of them don’t know jack shit” when talking about executives in the entertainment space.
Later that evening at a UFC press conference, Dana White was asked about his comments about Barstool. He clarified that he is not ending the relationship between that company and the UFC.
“Basically what I’m saying is, when you build a company like Barstool Sports, the way that it was built with a guy like Dave Portnoy, once you get a bunch of suits involved… it just changes the dynamic of the whole thing,” he said. “Ask Vice how that went.”
During an appearance on The Kirk Minihane Show this week, Dave Portnoy raised questions about his future with Barstool Sports. He said his contract is up in 20 months. He is not confident that Penn Entertainment will renew it.
Study Finds 58% of College Students Have Gambled on Sports
“Overall, 58% of students say that ads make them more likely to gamble and 70% believe that consistent sports gambling is a way to supplement their income.”
Sports betting is reaching a younger audience in a big way according to a study commissioned by the NCAA. When asked if they had ever placed a bet on a sporting event, 58% responded that they had.
Students that live on campus are even more likely to lay money down. 67% of them said they had placed a bet on sports before.
Advertising is clearly working on this demographic. Of the respondents that live on campus, 63% report having seen sports betting advertising. Overall, 58% of students say that ads make them more likely to gamble and 70% believe that consistent sports gambling is a way to supplement their income.
In recent years, schools have reassessed their relationship with sportsbooks. In fact, the study comes on the heels of Alabama firing baseball coach Brad Bohannon for allegedly providing inside information to a gambler and student-athletes at Iowa and Iowa State were ruled ineligible for placing bets on games.
College sports on TV and radio are havens for sportsbook ads. The NCAA may look to take more steps to address its relationship with gambling, but it is hard to imagine that will change.
The American Gaming Association revealed in February that the US betting market generated $7.5 billion in revenue last year. That is a 75% increase over 2021.
Penn Entertainment finalized its acquisition of Barstool Sports from The Chermin Group earlier this year for approximately $338 million, bringing with it the loyal, dedicated following of the digital sports and entertainment brand and now, the future of Barstool’s founder, however, is in doubt.
Dave Portnoy recently appeared on The Kirk Minihane Show and expressed uncertainty regarding whether or not he would reach a contract extension with Penn National. He is not sure what the brand’s parent company is thinking regarding his future, and he publicly opposed the firing of Ben Mintz earlier this month.
“Who knows where I’ll be in three [or] four years,” Portnoy said. “I think Dan [Katz], which I would say is very good for Barstool, is clearly locked in for a long time. He’s creating this huge fantasy factory there. I think it’s great for Barstool.”
Barstool Sports has launched a sportsbook that is in the midst of being licensed in different locales around the United States, and Portnoy is aware sports betting is a priority for Penn National over the ensuing years. If his contract was not renewed upon expiration, Portnoy would have to consider several options regarding what to do in the future.
“Would I just do a podcast a week that’s totally unfiltered? Would I enjoy doing that? Maybe,” Portnoy said, noting that his contract expires in a little less than 2 years. “There’s a part of me that thinks I’d be like, ‘Okay, I’m done.’”
One of the things he has considered though is launching a pizza review show on Netflix, perhaps similar to what Anthony Bourdain did during his time as a celebrity chef.
One thing he is not interested in doing is cultivating an entirely new media business, but he genuinely does not know what Penn National is thinking as it pertains to his future with the brand.
Certainly though, Penn National wants to ensure it retains gambling licenses, and having controversial Barstool Sports personalities could at times complicate the situation. Moving on from Portnoy has the potential to redefine the brand itself, something that could ultimately prove harmful in the eyes of its dedicated legion of consumers.
