David Portnoy

After four years, in 2003, Portnoy left the Yankee Group and founded Barstool Sports.[9] The early iteration of Barstool was a four-page sports newspaper that Portnoy handed out on subway platforms and street corners in Boston.[9][7] The paper was meant to appeal to young men and rejected political correctness.[7] Early advertisers in the newspaper included offshore betting websites such as partypoker, which was operating in the United States illegally.[7] The contents of the newspaper was originally solely written by Portnoy, but freelance writers, including Todd McShay, joined the paper.[9] 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.[7] In 2007, Barstool expanded to a blog.[9]

Portnoy gradually cultivated his persona as "El Presidente", a blunt and candid character.[10] His writing was well-received among young men and the publication subsequently became a mainstay of bro culture.[10] He became known for his unapologetic and brash attitude and has faced criticism over blog posts and disparaging and offensive comments towards women and others.[10][11][12] In 2010, Portnoy joked about women being raped saying "if you're a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?"[7] In 2016, Portnoy used the word "nigger" in a Barstool video, for which he later apologized.[7]

Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group purchased a majority stake of Barstool on January 7, 2016, and it was announced that the headquarters would move to New York City. 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. Following the sale, The Chernin Group maintained a 36% stake in the company, while Portnoy continued to run the site and retains creative control over content.[13][14] In February 2023, Penn acquired the remainder of Barstool Sports for $388 million.[15]

One Bite with Davey Pageviews is an internet show that Portnoy created, which consists of him reviewing pizza restaurants around the world. Portnoy began his goal of reviewing every pizza place in Manhattan in 2017. In addition to Portnoy, some reviews feature celebrity guests.[16]

In 2013, Portnoy launched an unsuccessful campaign to become the mayor of Boston following the retirement of mayor Thomas Menino.[19] During the race, Portnoy identified as a libertarian.[20] After raising more than $17,000 in campaign contributions, he failed to submit enough nomination signatures to qualify for the ballot.[21]

Portnoy has twice been detained in NFL-related incidents: first on May 12, 2015, when he was arrested by New York City police after he and three Barstool employees handcuffed one another on the floor of NFL headquarters to protest Deflategate,[24] and 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.[25][26]

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.[27] 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.[28][29]

In November 2021, a Business Insider exposé alleged that Portnoy had engaged in violent and aggressive sexual encounters with three young women and that he had filmed the women without their consent.[30] He denied that the sex was nonconsensual.[31] Portnoy called the article a "hit piece," claiming that Business Insider tried to find evidence of wrongdoing from him for approximately eight months.[32]

In early February 2022, more sexual assault and harassment claims by young women were published in a second Business Insider article.[33] After these new allegations were made, Portnoy announced a lawsuit against the publication. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in November 2022.[34][35] Portnoy filed an appeal of the dismissal. In February 2023, he dropped his appeal.[36]