Barstool Sports
Sports and comedy media company founded by Dave Portnoy in 2003, known for podcasts such as Pardon My Take and Spittin’ Chiclets and for the personalities who make them.
Media company · 35 entries in the index · Updated Oct 28, 2026
Barstool Sports is a sports and comedy media company known for personality-driven podcasts, videos and stunts, from Pardon My Take to Spittin’ Chiclets. Dave Portnoy started it in 2003 as a Boston-area print publication, sold control to The Chernin Group in 2016 and to Penn Entertainment in stages from 2020, then bought all of it back from Penn for $1 in August 2023. As of October 2026 he still owns it, with offices in New York and Chicago and nearly 30 current and former staff in our index, from PFT Commenter and Ryan Whitney to Kevin Clancy. The last two years brought exits, including Caleb Pressley in January 2025 and Barstool Smitty by February 2026, and long-running shows ending, such as KFC Radio in December 2025. They also brought a multi-year Netflix deal for its biggest video podcasts and a second, $4 million season of its creator golf event, the Internet Invitational.
Barstool personalities in the index
Every current and former Barstool Sports personality with an entry in our index. Years and statuses come from each entry and its sources; current staff first, then those who left.
| Name | Known for at Barstool | Years | Status (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFT Commenter | Co-host of Pardon My Take with Big Cat | 2016 to now | Current |
| Hank Lockwood | Producer and on-air regular on Pardon My Take | Start not published | Current |
| Ryan Whitney | Co-host of Spittin’ Chiclets; the Whitney in Pink Whitney | 2016 to now | Current |
| Kevin Clancy | KFC Radio host from 2012 to December 2025; blogger | About 2009 to now | Current; working on a new show |
| Feitelberg | KFC Radio co-host; Scene Stealers; How’d We Get Here? | KFC Radio era to now | Current |
| White Sox Dave | White Sox blogger; co-host of The Stretch in Chicago | 2012 to now | Current |
| Mintzy | The Yak and Barstool After Dark stunts in Chicago | 2020 to now | Current; fired by Penn in May 2023, rehired by Portnoy in August 2023 |
| Uncle Chaps | Zero Blog Thirty (2016 to January 2025); Drop A Pin | 2016 to now | Current |
| Wonton Don | The “Foreign Correspondent” travel series; Drop A Pin | By 2017 to now | Current |
| Tommy Smokes | Comedy videos; The Apartment; Snuffing Torches; won Surviving Barstool Season 1 | 2016 to now | Current |
| Dana Beers | Zillion Beers (2020); Big Boys Club | 2016 to now | Current |
| Kayce Smith | Barstool College Football Show; Unnecessary Roughness (2019 to July 2026) | 2018 to now | Current |
| Brandon Walker | Mostly Sports; The Brandon Walker College Football Show | 2019 to now | Current |
| Marty Mush | Sports Central; Marty Versus; Barstool Idol runner-up | 2018 to now | Current |
| Big Ev | Sports Central; Spinnin Backfist | Start not published | Current |
| Frank the Tank | Frank Walks; Tank Cooks | 2017 to now (full time since 2020) | Current |
| Jersey Jerry | The 37-hour hole-in-one stream; House Call; Pardon My Take’s “Lib of the Year” | 2021 to now | Current |
| Rico Bosco | Barstool Pick Em; House Call; Bosco Industries | About 2014 to now | Current; left for eight days in December 2022 |
| Jeff D. Lowe | The Dozen trivia show; Project Big Screen | By 2021 to now | Current |
| Large | You Gotta Try This; Rubbin’ Is Racing; Twisted History | Start not published | Current |
| Francis Ellis | Son of a Boy Dad; won the 2025 Internet Invitational | Until June 2019, and since 2022 | Current; fired in 2019, back by 2022 |
| Kirk Minihane | The Kirk Minihane Show; The Case | May 2019 to now | Current; says he does not expect a new contract when his runs out in fall 2027 |
| Kmarko | Started Barstool NY with KFC; editor-in-chief in 2020 | About 2009 | Unclear: no reported exit, no recent work found |
| Barstool Smitty | Philadelphia blogger and podcaster | 2011 to about 2026 | Left; on 97.5 The Fanatic since September 2026 |
| Caleb Pressley | Sundae Conversation | 2015 to January 2025 | Left; runs the show independently |
| Glenny Balls | OnlyStans; Sundae Conversation sidekick | 2017 to January 2025 | Left with Pressley; played Surviving Barstool Season 5 in 2026 |
| Jake Marsh | Pardon My Take’s “sports business reporter” | About 2019 to June 2024 | Left to call games full time |
| Billy Football | Pardon My Take intern turned regular; Macrodosing | 2017 to 2024 | Left Pardon My Take in August 2023; last Barstool blog October 2024 |
| Coley Mick | Section 10 and Mickstape | About 2016 to 2022 | Left; now on Section 10, which runs independently |
Not in the index: founder and owner Dave Portnoy, and Pardon My Take co-host Dan “Big Cat” Katz. “Start not published” means neither the person nor Barstool has dated it in anything we could source.
Also connected to Barstool
Creators in the index who were never Barstool staff but played or produced the Internet Invitational, Barstool’s creator golf event.
| Name | Connection | When |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Does Sports | Makes the Internet Invitational with Barstool’s Fore Play; Robby Berger captained a team in Season 1 | 2025 and 2026 |
| Brad Dalke | Won the 2025 Internet Invitational with Francis Ellis and Cody “Beef” Franke | November 2025 |
| Luke Kwon | Slept through his tee time in Season 1, the storyline that drove the series | Aired October 2025 |
| Fat Perez | Played Season 1 | 2025 |
| Joey Cold Cuts | Played Season 1 | 2025 |
An accepted outlet had not published the full 64-player Season 2 field as of October 28, 2026, so we list Season 2 players once it is on the record.
Who has owned Barstool Sports
| Owner | Stake | When | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Portnoy | Founder; all of it again since August 2023 | 2003 to now | $1 to buy it back from Penn, plus a non-compete and 50% of any future sale to Penn |
| The Chernin Group | Majority (51%) | From January 2016 | At a $10 million to $15 million valuation, per Business Insider |
| Penn Entertainment | 36%, then all of it | January 2020; all from February to August 2023 | About $163 million for 36%; $551 million in total |
Timeline
- 2003Dave Portnoy starts Barstool Sports as a Boston-area print publication about fantasy sports and betting, per the AP.
- About 2009Kmarko and Kevin Clancy join and go on to start Barstool NY, the company’s New York edition; White Sox Dave joins part time in Chicago in 2012.
- Jan 2016The Chernin Group buys a 51% stake at a $10 million to $15 million valuation and the team moves to New York, per Business Insider; Erika Nardini, later Erika Ayers Badan, becomes CEO that year.
- 2016Pardon My Take launches with Big Cat and PFT Commenter, and Spittin’ Chiclets launches with Ryan Whitney and Brian McGonagle.
- Aug 2019New Amsterdam Vodka announces Pink Whitney on Spittin’ Chiclets after a joke on the show, and it sells more than a million bottles in six weeks, per Forbes.
- Jan 2020Penn National Gaming, now Penn Entertainment, buys 36% of Barstool for about $163 million, per the AP.
- Feb 2023Penn completes its purchase of the whole company, for $551 million across the two deals, per Axios.
- Aug 8, 2023Penn sells Barstool back to Portnoy for $1 and a non-compete, keeping 50% of any future sale, and turns Barstool Sportsbook into ESPN Bet, per SBC Americas.
- Jan 2024CEO Erika Ayers Badan is reported to be leaving after running the company since 2016, per Awful Announcing.
- Jan 2025Caleb Pressley and Glenny Balls leave to take Sundae Conversation independent, and Bussin’ With the Boys leaves over an offer Portnoy said he could not match, per Awful Announcing.
- Oct 2025The first Internet Invitational, 48 creators at Big Cedar Lodge, starts airing on YouTube days after Fore Play’s Cody “Beef” Franke dies at 31, per Golf Digest.
- Nov 2025Francis Ellis, Brad Dalke and Franke win the $1 million Internet Invitational final, per Golf Digest.
- Dec 2025KFC Radio ends after more than a decade, and Netflix announces a multi-year deal for the video versions of Pardon My Take, Spittin’ Chiclets and The Ryen Russillo Podcast, per Netflix.
- Jul 2026Brandon Walker and Kayce Smith end Unnecessary Roughness, and Barstool hires Jay Gruden for a football show with his brother Jon, per Awful Announcing.
- Oct 2, 2026Fox ends Barstool’s role on Big Noon Kickoff, which began in July 2025, while Wake Up Barstool stays on, per Awful Announcing.
- Oct 26, 2026Season 2 of the Internet Invitational premieres on YouTube with a $4 million purse and a finale set for November 12, per Golf Digest.
Questions people ask
Who owns Barstool Sports now?
As of October 2026, Barstool Sports is owned by its founder, Dave Portnoy, who bought it back from Penn Entertainment in August 2023. Penn sold him all of its Barstool stock for $1 in exchange for a non-compete and other restrictions, and kept the right to 50% of the gross proceeds of any future sale, per SBC Americas and Axios. That makes Barstool a private company: it is not publicly traded, though Penn, which is, owned part of it from 2020 and all of it from February to August 2023. Erika Ayers Badan, the CEO since 2016, was reported to be leaving in January 2024, per Awful Announcing, citing the New York Post.
How much did Barstool Sports sell for, and why was it sold for $1?
Barstool Sports cost Penn Entertainment $551 million in total, and Penn sold it back to Dave Portnoy for $1 in August 2023, the last of three changes of ownership. In January 2016 The Chernin Group bought 51% at a $10 million to $15 million valuation, per Business Insider. In January 2020 Penn bought 36% for about $163 million, per the AP, and by February 2023 it owned the whole company for $551 million in total, per Axios. Six months later Penn signed a sportsbook deal with ESPN, paying $1.5 billion over 10 years to rebrand its betting app as ESPN Bet, and handed Barstool back to Portnoy for $1 plus a non-compete and half of any future sale.
Who left Barstool recently?
As of October 2026, the best-known recent exits from Barstool Sports are Caleb Pressley and Glenny Balls, who left in January 2025 to take Sundae Conversation independent, Bussin’ With the Boys, which left the same month, and Barstool Smitty, who was gone by February 2026. Portnoy said of Bussin’ that the hosts “got an offer that was so big” he could not match it, per Awful Announcing; in July 2026 its hosts Taylor Lewan and Will Compton landed an ESPN show. Smitty told Barrett Media that talking Philly sports “is where I want to be,” and neither side has said whether he was let go. Earlier exits in our index include Jake Marsh in June 2024, Billy Football and Coley Mick. Some people searched as leaving did not: Kevin Clancy and Feitelberg stayed after KFC Radio ended, and Kirk Minihane is still there but said in October 2026 he does not expect to be re-signed when his contract ends in fall 2027.
What Barstool shows are ending or going to Netflix?
As of October 2026, three Barstool Sports podcasts stream their video episodes on Netflix: Pardon My Take, Spittin’ Chiclets and The Ryen Russillo Podcast, under a multi-year deal Netflix announced on December 17, 2025, with audio staying on podcast apps. Chiclets video arrived on January 12, 2026, per TheWrap. The shows that ended: Zero Blog Thirty, Uncle Chaps’s military podcast, in January 2025; Kevin Clancy’s KFC Radio in December 2025, per Barrett Media; and Unnecessary Roughness on July 15, 2026, per Awful Announcing. The Unnamed Show with Portnoy, Minihane and Whitney did not return, and Fox dropped Barstool from Big Noon Kickoff on October 2, 2026, while keeping Wake Up Barstool.
Who is in Barstool Sports now?
As of October 2026, Barstool Sports is still led on air by Dave Portnoy, and its personalities in our index include Pardon My Take’s PFT Commenter and Hank Lockwood, Spittin’ Chiclets’ Ryan Whitney, Kevin Clancy, Feitelberg, Tommy Smokes, Dana Beers, Frank the Tank, Jersey Jerry, Rico Bosco, Marty Mush, Big Ev, Kayce Smith, Brandon Walker, Jeff D. Lowe, Large, Francis Ellis and Kirk Minihane. The Chicago office includes White Sox Dave, Mintzy and Uncle Chaps, who makes the travel show Drop A Pin with Wonton Don. The full list, with years, is in the table above.
How did Barstool Sports start?
Barstool Sports started in 2003 as a Boston-area print publication from Dave Portnoy, focused on fantasy sports and sports betting, per the AP. It grew online from there: Kmarko and Kevin Clancy joined around 2009 and went on to start its New York edition, and by the Chernin deal in January 2016 the site had about five million monthly readers and was moving its team to New York, per Business Insider. Portnoy told the outlet at the time: “Do I like Manhattan? No. Do I want to be in Manhattan? No.”
Did Barstool move to Chicago? Did it leave New York?
As of October 2026, Barstool Sports has not left New York: its New York offices are home to shows such as Plan Bri Uncut and Chicks in the Office, and the lease runs through 2029, per Awful Announcing in July 2026, when Portnoy said he hated having a business in the city but would not necessarily shut the office. Chicago is its second base. White Sox Dave has blogged there since 2012, Pardon My Take moved its production there in August 2023, the move Billy Football cited when he left the show in a Barstool blog, and Uncle Chaps moved to Barstool Chicago that year.
Did Barstool make Pink Whitney?
Pink Whitney is made by New Amsterdam Vodka, an E. & J. Gallo brand, but the idea came from Barstool Sports’ hockey podcast Spittin’ Chiclets. During a New Amsterdam read in October 2018, Ryan Whitney said his favorite drink was vodka with pink lemonade, per Front Office Sports; New Amsterdam announced the product on the show on August 7, 2019, and it reached shelves that September. Barstool’s then CEO told Forbes it sold more than a million bottles in its first six weeks. We found no accepted source tying Barstool to High Noon.
How does Barstool Sports make money?
Barstool Sports is private and does not publish revenue or profit, but the ways it makes money are visible from the outside: sponsor reads and ads across its podcasts and videos, distribution deals such as Netflix for video podcasts since 2026 and Fox for Wake Up Barstool, merchandise, and products built with partners, such as Pink Whitney with New Amsterdam. Merch can be large: Dana Beers’s Barstool bio says his 2020 Zillion Beers run sold about $1.5 million of it in two weeks. From 2020 to 2023 its name was also on Penn’s sportsbook. We do not repeat revenue or valuation estimates from net-worth sites; the only reliable dollar figures are the sale prices in the ownership table above.
What was Barstool Sportsbook, and what happened to it?
Barstool Sportsbook was Penn Entertainment’s sports betting app under the Barstool name, and it ended in fall 2023 when Penn rebranded it as ESPN Bet in the 20 states where Penn took sports bets, per SBC Americas. The switch came with the August 2023 deal that returned Barstool to Portnoy for $1. Barstool still makes betting content, such as Barstool Pick Em with Rico Bosco and Picks Central, but it no longer has its own sportsbook.
Who won the Barstool Internet Invitational, and when is the 2026 one?
The first Internet Invitational, the creator golf event Barstool Sports makes with Bob Does Sports, was won by Francis Ellis, Brad Dalke and Cody “Beef” Franke, who split the $1 million final in November 2025, or $333,333 each, per Golf Digest. That season had 48 creators at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, with Robby Berger of Bob Does Sports and Riggs of Fore Play as captains; Luke Kwon sleeping through his tee time became its biggest storyline, and Fat Perez and Joey Cold Cuts also played. Season 2 was filmed in early August 2026 and premiered on YouTube on October 26, 2026, with new episodes on Mondays and Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET until the November 12 finale and a $4 million purse, per Golf Digest. It is a different event from the PGA Tour’s Creator Classic, which Barstool does not run.
Who was Beef at Barstool, and what happened to him?
Cody “Beef” Franke was a PGA of America golf professional who became the head golf professional for Barstool Sports’ golf podcast Fore Play and died suddenly at 31 in October 2025, per Today. Fore Play announced his death on October 27, 2025, and Portnoy wrote that “Barstool lost a member of our family this weekend.” The first episode of the Internet Invitational, released that week, opened with a tribute, and his family asked for the series to go ahead as planned, per Golf Digest. Weeks later his team won the $1 million final.
Is Barstool Sports still popular?
As of October 2026, Barstool Sports is still one of the biggest names in sports podcasting, with a Netflix deal, a Fox show and its largest creator golf purse yet. Pardon My Take won Best Sports Podcast at the 2026 iHeartPodcast Awards, per Barrett Media, and its book, Pardon My Book, debuted at No. 1 on a New York Times best seller list in August 2026, per Awful Announcing. It also had misses: Fox ended its Big Noon Kickoff role in October 2026, and on Celebrity Family Feud in July 2026 Team Barstool, with Ryan Whitney, Rico Bosco, Kirk Minihane and Jersey Jerry, scored zero points, per Awful Announcing.
Is Barstool conservative? What is it worth? What about its staff’s personal lives?
Barstool Sports’ politics, its current worth and its staff’s personal lives are not something we cover. We do not label a company’s politics, we do not repeat net-worth estimates, and the only sourced dollar figures are the sale prices in the ownership table above.
Our read
Ames Create does not work with Barstool Sports. This is our view, from a team that works on creator brands for a living.
The format. Barstool’s format is people. Shows are built around a cast the audience knows by nickname, the office itself is content, and storylines carry from one show to the next: a firing, a contract fight, a golf grudge. That is why so many of its staff ended up in our index, and why so many of the searches are about who is still there.
Why it travels. It travels because each personality is a channel of their own feeding a shared brand. A Pardon My Take bit, a Frank Walks episode and an Internet Invitational meltdown each find a different crowd, and the clips spread well past Barstool’s own accounts. The Netflix and Fox deals put that cast in front of people who never followed a Barstool account.
Brand fit. The fit is clearest for beer, spirits, betting, apparel and golf, the categories its shows already sell, and Pink Whitney shows how far a product born on a podcast can go. The tone is crude and unpredictable on purpose, so family brands and anyone uneasy with that should look elsewhere. Deals run through Barstool rather than the individual personality, and the cast changes more than the brand does.
Also in the index
Entries that mention Barstool Sports.
| Josh PraySouthwest Florida stand-up comedian who posts daily skits, dance videos, movie and music reactions and a “5 things” segment, and went viral in Ireland in 2019 reacting to hurling. | Comedy |
Related
- PGA Tour Creator ClassicShort televised golf event the PGA Tour staged for YouTube golf creators on the eve of its biggest tournaments, four times between August 2024 and August 2025.
- Good GoodGolf YouTube group and apparel company from Frisco, Texas, whose buddy-golf matches and challenges grew into a 2 million subscriber channel, a clothing line and its own televised events.
Browse the index: All creators · Comedy · Sports · Streaming · Music · Lifestyle · Fitness · Ames Create network · What the marks mean
Sources: AP via NBC Washington, January 2020; Business Insider, January 2016; Axios, August 2023; SBC Americas, August 2023; Awful Announcing on Erika Ayers Badan, January 2024, Bussin’ With the Boys, January 2025, Caleb Pressley, January 2025, Unnecessary Roughness, July 2026, New York office, July 2026, Jay Gruden, July 2026, ESPN and former Barstool hosts, July 2026, Family Feud, July 2026, Pardon My Book, August 2026, Big Noon Kickoff, October 2026 and Kirk Minihane, October 2026; Front Office Sports, July 2025; Netflix, December 2025; TheWrap, January 2026; Barrett Media on KFC Radio, November 2025, Pardon My Take, March 2026 and Barstool Smitty, September 2026; Forbes, December 2019; Front Office Sports on Pink Whitney; Golf Digest on the Internet Invitational, October 2025, November 2025, June 2026 and October 2026; Today, October 2025; Barstool Sports blog, August 2023; and the creator entries linked above.
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