Dave Portnoy is once again the sole owner of Barstool Sports. Founded by Portnoy in 2003, the controversial media outlet had been acquired by gambling company PENN Entertainment earlier this year for $551 million. PENN had purchased a minority stake in the outlet for $163 million in 2020. "PENN Entertainment and Barstool Sports have gone our separate ways," Portnoy said in a video posted to X. "So that is right, for the first time in a decade, I own 100% of Barstool Sports."
The move comes after PENN entered into a new agreement with ESPN to rebrand the outlet's betting content. The division away from Barstool comes as a move to cut ties with the company after the initial relationship caused problems for Penn. "Every time we did something, it was one step forward, two steps back," Portnoy said in his video announcement on Tuesday. "We got denied licenses because of me. You name it. So the regulated industry probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make." The relationship had also caused stock prices to tank. Penn's stock was up 14% in the hours after the new agreement with ESPN.
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ESPN Undertakes Major Betting Overhaul
As mentioned, the decision comes after PENN entered into a new agreement with ESPN. Under the 10-year deal, Barstool Sportsbook will be rebranded as ESPN Bet. Per Penn's announcement, ESPN will receive $1.5 billion as part of the deal and a further $500 million in warrants tied to media, marketing, and other services. The service will be continued to be called theScore Bet in Canada. PENN also operates the theScore media outlet, which primarily focuses on esports coverage on platforms such as YouTube.
“This transformative, exclusive agreement with ESPN marks another major milestone in PENN’s evolution from a pure-play U.S. regional gaming operator to a North American entertainment leader. ESPN Bet will be deeply integrated with ESPN’s broad editorial, content, digital and linear product, and sports programming ecosystem. ESPN Bet will also benefit from PENN’s operational experience, extensive market access and proprietary technology platform, which successfully debuted in the U.S. this July," said Penn CEO Jay Snowden.
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