Dave Portnoy Gives Blunt Reaction After Learning of SCOTUS Trans Sports Ruling on Live TV: ‘Duh!’

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy offered a characteristically blunt response after Fox Business Network anchor Stuart Varney told him the Supreme Court ruled against transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia: “Duh!”

After initially appearing to misunderstand the question and ruling, Portnoy told Varney, “Well, duh … that’s what it should be. They dominate when they go in, and they should not be allowed in women’s sports. Absolutely totally agree with it.”

SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in favor of bans on transgender athletes in girls’ sports in Idaho and West Virginia Monday. The court also left the right to determine laws and rules on the topic up to the states themselves. There are 25 other states in the United States with laws dictating the inclusion or exclusion of transgender athletes in girls’ sports.

The justices determined that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal laws such as Title IX, which forbids sex-based discrimination in programs that receive federal funding. They were also divided as to whether the law in West Virginia violates the Constitution.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in an opinion shared by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson that “the majority extends great sympathy to those it favors: the young cisgender girls and women who play sports. I share that sympathy. Playing sports can lead to benefits that are immeasurable, and many are understandably invested in ensuring that competition stays fair and safe. Because the majority, however, inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions, I respectfully dissent.”

Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act was approved in 2020 and bans transgender women and girls from joining girls’ sports teams in any public school, all the way from elementary school to the collegiate level. West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports law was established in 2022 and bans transgender women and girls from playing on a girls’ sports team at public secondary schools and colleges.

Portnoy has been a strong supporter of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark since she was drafted into the WNBA in 2024, but his overall investment in women’s sports is murky. In 2025, Portnoy insisted he’d have no problem paying the $250 million fee required to bring a new team to the WNBA.

“The players make virtually nothing while the entire league explodes. Of course they deserve more money. Just the values of the team pay for it without all the other stuff. If somebody told me I could buy a Boston team for 250 million I would do it without blinking. That’s all you got to know about the WNBA finances,” he wrote on X.

Watch above via Fox Business Network.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!