Fox Sports Nearing Deal With Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports After Canceling Shows

The impending deal comes days after Fox Sports announced sweeping changes to FS1 programming.

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, is nearing a deal with Fox Sports to bring Barstool content to the network. / Eric Rueb/Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Fox Sports is nearing a deal with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports that would bring Barstool content to FS1, according to a report from Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports.

News of an imminent deal between Barstool and Fox Sports comes days after the network announced wide-sweeping changes to FS1 programming.

A deal has yet to be finalized.

As part of the potential contract, Portnoy would appear regularly on Fox's college football pregame show Big Noon Kickoff, which goes head-to-head against longtime college football Saturday staple College GameDay on ESPN. Signing on Portnoy and Barstool Sports would certainly be targeted toward the 18-to-34 demographic, which Portnoy and Barstool's content has done well with over the years. Fox is betting on Portnoy to bring eyeballs to compete with College GameDay, which has done well ratings-wise in recent years with the addition of former Barstool employee Pat McAfee, who is also a ratings behemoth with the 18-to-34 demographic.

In addition to Fox's college football content, Barstool programming is expected to be televised on FS1 as part of the deal, which is likely to come via a licensing agreement. Barstool's content would help replace some of the canceled programming by Fox Sports earlier this week, which included Breakfast Ball, The Facility and Speak.

This is not Barstool's first foray into television. The network previously had a deal with ESPN in 2017 for a show featuring personalities Big Cat and PFT Commenter called Barstool Van Talk. The show was canceled after one episode.

---

More on Sports Illustrated

feed