Dave Portnoy Believes MLB Will Abandon Plans to Partner with Barstool Over Blowback from ‘A Small Vocal Minority’
Earlier this month, a report floated regarding the potential for Major League Baseball to enter a distribution deal with Barstool Sports. Considering the backlash that followed, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy doesn’t foresee a partnership with MLB coming to fruition.
“Barstool is a lightning rod for so many people. I’ve never totally understood it,” Portnoy said on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show in Boston. “Especially in today’s world, there’s tons of people who love us and I’d say there is a small vocal minority that despises us.”
“Even when that leaked out, ‘Hey, Barstool might cover Major League Baseball,’ the people who don’t like us, who probably 99 percent of them don’t watch sports anyway, went absolutely bananas,” Portnoy added. “I think there’s a chance, but there’s still a long way to go.”
MLB, which struggles to reach a younger demographic of fans, was quickly criticized on social media for even considering a partnership with Barstool, an unapologetically brash brand. Barstool detractors cited the company’s history of misogynistic and racist humor as making them untouchable.
“My guess is, somebody wanted to leak a weather balloon and be like, ‘Alright, how much backlash are we going to get from the same group who whenever we do anything, is basically like, these guys stink,’” Portnoy added of the report leaked to The New York Post.
“If I had to put a number on it, I’d say 10 percent,” Portnoy guessed on the potential for striking a deal with MLB, noting that he’d love for it to happen. “I’d be stunned if it still happens, because Major League Baseball, who’s traditionally conservative, would have to be like, ‘Yep, we know we’re going to get some complaints, but we’re OK with it.’”
Partnering with Barstool would certainly help MLB show they’re becoming less conservative, but it’s not a move many progressives would consider as a step in the right direction. Barstool has thrived under female leadership in recent years, achieving immense success while their CEO, CRO, CFO, and VPs of production, commerce and communications are roles currently filled by women. But a brand built by perpetuating frat culture has been a tough image to shake.
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