David Portnoy | |
|---|---|
 Portnoy at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019 | |
| Born | David Scott Portnoy March 22, 1977 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Employer | Barstool Sports |
| Spouse | Renee Portnoy (m. 2009;sep. 2017) |
| Website | www |
David Scott Portnoy (born March 22, 1977) [1] [2] [3] is an American businessman and social media personality. He is the founder and owner of sports and popular culture company Barstool Sports. [4]
Portnoy grew up in Swampscott, Massachusetts, [2] the son of Michael, a lawyer, and Linda, a high school teacher. [5] He is Jewish. [2] [6] [7] After attending Swampscott High School, where one of his classmates was ESPN's Todd McShay, [8] Portnoy graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in education. [9] While at Michigan, Portnoy founded thegamblingman.com, a website where he published his sports betting picks. [10]
After college, Portnoy moved to Boston and began working at Yankee Group, an IT market research firm. [4] In 2004, Portnoy left the Yankee Group and founded Barstool Sports. [4] The early iteration of Barstool was a four-page sports newspaper that Portnoy handed out on subway platforms and street corners in Boston. [11] [10] The paper was meant to appeal to young men and rejected political correctness. [10] Early advertisers in the newspaper included offshore betting websites such as partypoker, which was operating in the United States illegally. [10] The contents of the newspaper was originally solely written by Portnoy, but freelance writers, including Todd McShay, joined the paper. [11] At first, the paper struggled, but gained traction in 2004 when Portnoy began placing photos of women in bikinis on the front page of the newspaper. [10] In 2007, Barstool expanded to a blog. [11]
Portnoy gradually cultivated his persona as "El Presidente", a blunt and candid character. [12] His writing was well-received among young men and the publication subsequently became a mainstay of bro culture. [12] Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group purchased a majority stake of Barstool in January 2016. In 2020, Penn Entertainment purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $163 million, including $135 million in cash and $28 million in Penn non-voting convertible preferred stock. Penn acquired the remainder of the company in February 2023 for $388 million. [13] [14] [15] Portnoy re-purchased Barstool in August 2023 for one dollar, non-compete agreements in the gambling space, and a clause that if Barstool were to be sold again Penn Entertainment would take 50%. [16]
One Bite Pizza Reviews is an internet show by Portnoy, in which he reviews pizza from restaurants around the world, ranking it on a scale of 0–10. Portnoy began his show with the goal of reviewing every pizza place in Manhattan in 2017. In addition to Portnoy, some reviews feature celebrity guests. [17] Portnoy rarely ranks a pizza above 9.0, but some of those he praised have experienced a transformative growth in popularity, going "viral, becoming a can't-miss attraction for legions of young, loud, and often inebriated Barstool diehards." [18] In October 2023, The New York Times called Portnoy "one of the most influential people in the world of food social media," with the ability to "change the fate of a pizzeria with a single utterance." [19]
In August 2023, Portnoy was involved in an altercation with Charlie Redd, the owner of Dragon Pizza in Somerville, Massachusetts, after criticizing the pizzeria's pizza as "a floppy mess." [20] Portnoy and Redd then entered into an expletive-laden exchange. [20] Portnoy and Barstool Sports hosted the first One Bite Pizza Festival in September 2023 in Brooklyn, New York. [20]
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
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Portnoy identifies as "socially liberal" and "fiscally conservative". [21] Portnoy opposed COVID-19 lockdowns, saying: "When did this become...'flatten the curve' to 'we have to find a cure or everyone's going to die?'" [22]
In a 2015 blog post, Portnoy said: "I am voting for Donald Trump. I don't care if he's a joke. I don't care if he's racist. I don't care if he's sexist. I don't care about any of it. I hope he stays in the race and I hope he wins. Why? Because I love the fact that he is making other politicians squirm. I love the fact he says shit nobody else will say, regardless of how ridiculous it is." [22] In 2020, Portnoy interviewed Donald Trump at the White House. In 2022, he said it is "dangerous" to vote for Republicans because they will appoint Justices who are too conservative to the U.S. Supreme Court. [21]
Portnoy criticized the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade . [21] [23] Portnoy said: "To me, this is just pure insanity, pure insanity. We are going backwards in time. We are literally going backwards in time! It makes no sense how anybody thinks it's their right to tell a woman what to do with her body." [24] [25]
In 2013, Portnoy launched an unsuccessful campaign to become the mayor of Boston following the retirement of mayor Thomas Menino. [26] During the 2013 Boston mayoral election, Portnoy identified as a libertarian. [27] After raising more than $17,000 in campaign contributions, he failed to submit enough nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot. [28]
Portnoy married his wife Renee in 2009, [29] and they separated in January 2017. [30] They remain legally married as a Massachusetts judge denied their divorce petition in March 2023 due to Portnoy's wealth. [31] From March 2021 to November 2023, Portnoy dated model Silvana Mojica. [32] [33] In 2019, Portnoy said that his net worth was around $100 million. [10]
In 2020, Portnoy donated $500,000 of his own money to the Barstool Fund, a relief effort for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through May 2021, the campaign raised over $39 million for 348 businesses. [34] In February 2024, Portnoy donated $277,000 to the LifeLine Animal Project, an animal shelter in Atlanta, Georgia. The money was generated from t-shirt, hoodie, and hat sales on the Barstool Sports website themed after Miss Peaches, a dog that Portnoy adopted from the shelter. [35] After NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was killed while on-duty in March 2024, Portnoy raised upward of $1.5 million for Diller's family, including $750,000 raised through a T-shirt sale on the Barstool Sports website and a $750,000 matching donation from Portnoy. [36]
In 2019, Portnoy sent out a tweet threatening to fire "on the spot" any employee at his blogging company who sought advice on forming a union. The New York State Department of Labor released a statement saying, "We say no way, no how to intimidation, threats and union busting. It is illegal to take any unfavorable action – including termination – against employees for union-related activities under the National Labor Relations Act. New York is a proud union state." New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez tweeted in response to Portnoy writing, "If you're a boss tweeting firing threats to employees trying to unionize, you are likely breaking the law & can be sued, in your words, 'on the spot.' ALL workers in the US have the protected freedom to organize for better conditions." [37] Portnoy later agreed to an informal settlement with the National Labor Relations Board where he did not admit guilt but deleted his anti-union tweets. He also released a T-shirt with his face on it which read "Union Buster". [38] [39]
Critics allege that comments on the site by Portnoy and others normalize rape culture. Comments that have sparked debate include a post on a 2010 blog in which Portnoy said "[E]ven though I never condone rape if you're a size 6 and you're wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?" [40] When confronted with his statement by Lisa Guerrero of Inside Edition Portnoy stated, "Correct. I stand by that. I think it's a funny joke." Guerrero asked, "Do you know how offensive that is?" to which he responded, "No. I obviously don't." [41]
In 2020, multiple old videos of Portnoy resurfaced that showed him using the N-word or joking about blackface. [42] Business Insider reported Portnoy to launch multiple "unprovoked, personal attacks online" including making frequent "sexually harassing comments" towards Deadspin's Laura Wagner. Portnoy has defended himself from allegations of sexism saying, "I gave two girls their own radio show. We have hired girl after girl — they say it’s a great place to work." [43]
Portnoy has twice been detained in NFL-related incidents. On May 12, 2015, he was arrested after he and three Barstool employees handcuffed themselves to each other on the floor of NFL headquarters in Manhattan and demanded to speak with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to protest Deflategate; [6] [44] he was arrested again in 2019 when he was placed in a holding cell at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a portion of Super Bowl LIII. In the latter incident, he had created fake passes to attend a press event the day prior and was prohibited from attending the game. [45] [46]
The National Labor Relations Board investigated Portnoy in 2019 for posts on Twitter on charges that he illegally threatened to fire his workers if they unionized. [47] That December, Portnoy reached an informal settlement with the Board, which required him to delete his threatening tweets and remove any potential anti-union material created by Barstool Sports. The settlement also noted that the Twitter account originally encouraging employees to unionize was actually owned by Barstool in an attempt to out labor organizers. [48] [49]
In 2004, Portnoy filed for bankruptcy protection, following large gambling losses. [10] He owed $59,000 to credit card companies and $18,000 to his father. [10] In January 2020, a tax lien for $11,795 was filed against Portnoy by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [10]
In November 2021, a Business Insider exposé alleged that Portnoy had engaged in violent and aggressive sexual encounters with three women and that he had filmed the women without their consent. [50] He claimed that the sex was consensual. [51] Portnoy called the article a "hit piece", claiming that Business Insider tried to find evidence of wrongdoing by him for approximately eight months. [52] In early February 2022, more sexual assault and harassment claims by young women were published in a second Business Insider article. [53] After these new allegations were made, Portnoy announced a lawsuit against the publication. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in November 2022. [54] [55] Portnoy filed an appeal of the dismissal. In February 2023, he dropped his appeal. [56]
Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 15 miles (24 km) up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Bay, Swampscott is today a fairly affluent residential community and includes the village of Beach Bluff, as well as part of the neighborhood of Clifton.
Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group. Frozen meals and side dishes are sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name.
Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gambling. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, under brands including Hollywood Casino, Ameristar, and Boomtown. It also owns the Canadian digital media company Score Media and Gaming.
Todd Marshall McShay is an American football television analyst and commentator.
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The history of union busting in the United States dates back to the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution produced a rapid expansion in factories and manufacturing capabilities. As workers moved from farms to factories, mines and other hard labor, they faced harsh working conditions such as long hours, low pay and health risks. Children and women worked in factories and generally received lower pay than men. The government did little to limit these conditions. Labor movements in the industrialized world developed and lobbied for better rights and safer conditions. Shaped by wars, depressions, government policies, judicial rulings, and global competition, the early years of the battleground between unions and management were adversarial and often identified with aggressive hostility. Contemporary opposition to trade unions known as union busting started in the 1940s, and continues to present challenges to the labor movement. Union busting is a term used by labor organizations and trade unions to describe the activities that may be undertaken by employers, their proxies, workers and in certain instances states and governments usually triggered by events such as picketing, card check, worker organizing, and strike actions. Labor legislation has changed the nature of union busting, as well as the organizing tactics that labor organizations commonly use.
Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that publishes sports journalism and pop culture-related content. It is owned by David Portnoy, who founded the company in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts.
The Arizona Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that began play in the 2015 season. The game is held at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, and starting in 2020 has tie-ins with the Mountain West Conference and Mid-American Conference (MAC). Since 2024, the game has been sponsored by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop, the gin-based cocktail brand co-founded by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg; it was previously sponsored by the mortgage broker company Nova Home Loans (2015–2019), the real estate agency Offerpad (2020) and Barstool Sports (2021–2023).
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Call Her Daddy is an advice and comedy podcast created by Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn in 2018. The podcast was formerly owned and distributed by Barstool Sports until June 2021, when it was announced that Cooper had signed an exclusive deal with Spotify worth $60 million. In the late spring of 2020, Cooper and Franklyn were engaged in a publicized dispute with Barstool founder David Portnoy, which resulted in Franklyn leaving the show. Cooper reached an agreement with Barstool and continued hosting the podcast on her own. In August 2024, Cooper signed a deal with Sirius XM to replace Spotify as her distribution and advertising partner.
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The 2022 Arizona Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2022, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. The seventh annual Arizona Bowl, the game featured Ohio from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Wyoming from the Mountain West Conference. The game began at 2:40 p.m. MST and was aired on Barstool Sports's website and social media. Ohio defeated Wyoming in overtime 30–27. Ohio's quarterback CJ Harris was named the most-valuable player. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Barstool Sports was also the game's title sponsor.
Barstool conservatism is a name for a type of conservatism in the United States, associated with Dave Portnoy, founder and CEO of the Barstool Sports digital "media empire", and his audience of "stoolies", made up primarily of younger men. The term was coined by journalist Matthew Walther.
ESPN Bet is a brand of American sportsbooks and online sports betting services operated by Penn Entertainment. Its branding is licensed from ESPN Inc., which cross-promotes the services across its television and digital platforms. It originally launched in 2020 as Barstool Sportsbook, in partnership with the then-Penn owned Barstool Sports.
David Scott Portnoy "Dave", President/Founder, Barstool Sports Inc.
...is Jewish, grew up in Swampscott...He is 34.
He offers up a detailed description (at least for a dude) of his wedding in Newport a year ago, and of how he enjoys weekly dinner-and-a-movie dates with his wife, Renee.
Yes I'm separated right now from the First Lady.
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