BARSTOOL SPORTS: A NEW AGE OF SPORTS MEDIA

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Barstool Sports currently has 12 million followers on Instagram. This is more than:

• Sky Sports (8.2 million)

• BT Sport (2.4 million)

• Fox Sports (1.1 million)

• BEIN Sports (8.8 million)

This is without taking into account Barstool's 700+ other accounts or Dave Portnoy’s (founder of Barstool Sports) 4.8 million followers.

Welcome to the new age of sports media.

Company Overview

Valuation: $450 million (Source)

Revenue: $150 million in 2020 (Source)

Although, Barstool Sports is killing it right now. It still isn’t a household name, so let me give you a short back story on the company.

Barstool Sports is a digital media company that produces content focused on sports and pop culture. It was founded by Dave Portnoy back in 2003 and was originally a free print publication that offered gambling advertisements and fantasy sports projections.

In 2007, Barstool Sports launched on the internet and it was a rocketship from there on out.

Since then it has:

• Established connections with hundreds of major universities and created Barstool pages for each of them. (See below)

• Became a big player in the podcast space with shows such as: Call Her Daddy (Top 50 in Podcast Charts), Pardon My Take (Top 15 Apple Podcasts), The Dave Portnoy Show (Top 10 Business Podcast).

• Launched Barstool Sportsbook which according to recent figures from Penn National, has taken $660 million in handle in the seven months since it launched. (Source)

As you can see, Barstool has done it all during their mere 18 years of operating. But this David and Goliath story isn’t over yet. In fact, Barstool is slowly but surely on its way to becoming the “Goliath” of the sports media world.

It has one of the strongest and craziest audiences in the space and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

Let’s break down the unique strategy which rocketed them right to the top.

Breaking Down The Strategy

It’s important to identify (as always), that there were many factors that lead to Barstool Sports success: their diversification, unique set-up, awesome founder and so on and so forth.

However, you must also observe that Barstool’s most valuable asset - by a mile - is its huge social presence.

Their social media strategy has been by far the biggest factor in Barstool’s success and it’s the exact thing that:

1. Allowed them to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

2. Create such a large, strong and loyal following.

So what does Barstool do which is so special?

• User-Generated Content - The majority of the content posted by Barstool Sports is UGC, which simply means it was created by a follower or fan (below is a prime example). There are so many benefits that this has for Barstool. It makes their content authentic and relatable whilst also allowing them to pump out a large quantity of content without having a huge staff to create it.Posting content that their followers have filmed is also a huge reason behind why Barstool has such a large and loyal following. It allows the followers to feel a part of the brand and keeps their eyes on Barstool’s socials eager to see if their video got posted. No matter how big or small your following is, Barstool are willing to post your content. Which is crazy for a company as big as Barstool. In truth, they’re so much more than just a “media company” - like Wikipedia coins them. Barstool is the perfect example of a company that became a community. If you visit a college campus in 2021 you will find Barstool Sports hoodies, flags and posters scattered all over the place. Why? Because the kids resonate with Barstool! They are Barstool! Now, when is the last time you saw someone out in an ESPN t-shirt?

• Different Forms Of Media - This is somewhat of a double entendre, referring to the way Barstool posts very different types of media to their competitors: podcasts, live streams, heavy social media presence. But also refers to how Barstool differentiates their approach to the media they post on those platforms also.

  • Firstly, Barstool has done an exceptional job of simply bringing their brand to various different platforms and creating such a wide range of content. A great recent example of this is their Sportsbook live streams. The stream consists of a bunch of Barstool employees (including “El Presidente” Dave Portnoy) sitting in a room and watching different sports games whilst betting on them. This may seem like a boring concept, but I can confirm it is a must-watch (see highlight below). Now, you may be thinking this is all just pointless fun and games - you would be wrong. This is just another way that Barstool stands out from its competitors and allows its community to be involved in everything that they do. People can sit and watch an NFL game whilst having the Barstool Sportsbook live stream on and experience the game as if they are sitting with the founder of Barstool himself - who is sat centre stage in the blue jeans. This allows sports lovers to get sports updates in a completely different place. Where ESPN limits themselves to a TV channel, Barstool is right there on their social media feed. They can listen in the car, they can listen in the gym - they simply have more access.

  • Secondly, Barstool differentiates its whole approach to sports media, compared to its competitors. Where ESPN has “professional” reporters in a fancy studio reporting on the sporting events of the week. Barstool has virtually the complete opposite, with normal people talking about sports in informal ways and settings. A perfect example of this is “Parden My Take”, hosted by “Big Cat” Dan & PFT Commenter (no these are not their legal names). The shows name in itself is a mock of the ESPN shows “Pardon the Interruption” and “First Take”. As you can imagine, the show is a whole lot of fun. However, it is also a huge hit and is “taking over sports commentary” with around 1.5 million weekly listeners per episode. (Source) It just goes to show once again that people want authenticity and reliability, and Pardon My Take gives people exactly that. What’s more authentic than the Chicago Bears quarterback joining the podcast from the back of a cramped van? (See below)

If you’ve never come across Barstool content before, you may be thinking all of this is just a joke and Barstool Sports is a mockery. In a sense, it is a mockery, a mockery of how serious and unentertaining sports media has become.

Watching sports has been all about bringing people together for centuries. No matter what race, ethnicity or political views people have, they all come together through sport. The likes of ESPN, Sky Sports and Fox Sports have seemingly forgotten about this. Barstool on the other hand has not, and has instead formulated an enormous - and evergrowing - community of sports lovers.

If you’re still questioning Barstool and don’t see them competing with the goliaths of the sports media world. Just know that the $150 million in revenue Barstool made last year, was a 57% increase from 2019. They are also tipped to break the $200 million mark for 2021.

This is without mentioning Barstool’s recent deal with PENN - a 12 billion dollar public company. PENN bought a 36% stake in Barstool in 2020, for $163 million in cash and stock. (Source)

It is very clear that Barstool is just getting started and it’s certainly one to watch.

The Lessons

There is so much to learn from Barstool; from a business perspective and from a personal/entrepreneurial perspective.

1. Be a shepherd, not a sheep - If Barstool would have gone the traditional sports media route we can all agree, they would be nowhere near as big as they are today. So it’s important to recognise that following the crowd isn’t always the best option. Be you, be different.

2. From rags to riches - Dave Portnoy is a great example of someone who went from rags to riches. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in education - yes, nothing to do with business or journalism. However, he had a passion for sports and went out on a whim and fully committed to something he believed in. He’s now estimated to be worth upwards of $120 million. It sounds cliche, but, follow your dreams and believe in your projects.

3. Put your consumers first - Every single thing Barstool does, their consumers are at the forefront of the decision. They post their followers videos on their social media pages and always make sure to tag whoever sent it in. They take time to respond to tweets and post memes that followers have created. Build a community and put them first!

How You Can Implement It

Ironically, the main theme in this article was showing that Barstool was unapologetically themselves. So, to implement a similar strategy you must follow in their footsteps; by not following at all.

To be like Barstool Sports, you have to put your own twist on your brand or business without caring or considering how people may judge you or hate it. If you enjoy your product or service then others will too! Don’t be afraid to be unapologetically you. Don’t be afraid to create a brand or company that sticks out like a sore thumb. That’s exactly what Dave Portnoy did and 17 years and 9 figures later I’m sure he is very happy with his decision.

This has been a breakdown of Barstool Sports marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!