Whether you tried to watch Barstool’s Rough N’ Rowdy 9 online or live at the arena, your night of boxing was mildly inconvenienced Friday night. Technical difficulties to the online PPV stream plagued the show which necessitated a thirty minute delay so viewers at home wouldn’t miss anything. Those in the arena were quite unhappy with the lengthy delay.
Just before the fight started, multiple people took to Twitter to say that they were having trouble logging in to watch or in trying to buy the event. The @roughnrowdy Twitter account put out a tweet saying there was a technical issue and put out the same generic apology tweet to anyone tweeting at them that they were having issues.
The event was supposed to start at 7:30 but because of so many people having issues, the event was postponed until the issue was fixed. With fans at the arena getting restless, the fights started at 8:05 but were broadcasted for free on Periscope before eventually moving over to the PPV platform once the issues were sorted out.
One person who wasn’t at all happy about that was Barstool president Dave Portnoy. Portnoy was a bit limited being on vacation but was understandably pissed off seeing so many people having issues, as well as the decision of the Twitter account to put out generic tweets and those at the arena to postpone the event. Portnoy fired off a tweet storm being fed up of the situation and just wanted to get things started.
Just as an FYI whoever is running this account sounds like an airline which prob isn’t the best when the entire world is having issues. https://t.co/TObrXxsb6I
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
I don’t know what is happening with Rnr. I have it through on demand. I’d be calling for heads right now if I was there. I’m trying to stay calm. I’m on vacation. Don’t get angry Dave. How long you think they delay this? They gotta start sometime right? We suck
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
START THE FUCKING FIGHTS!
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
FIGHT!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ZfQ0eLGUQu
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
They are boooing!!!! START THE FIGHTS!!! TECH SUCKS. START THR FIGHTS!!! SOMEBODY GET ME A MUDSLIDE
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
Holy fuck start the fights. Refund people. Do whatever. It’s over. YOU HAVE TO START
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
WHOEVER IS DOING OUR TECH WAKE UP!!! YOU LOST!! START THE FIGHTS!!!
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
I’m hearing drop dead start time of 8:05. No idea where that time came from or why
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2019
Breath
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 20, 2019
People always bitch and moan about wanting old barstool back. This is old barstool people.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 20, 2019
In terms of handling a crisis scenario such as this, there were some things done well and some not so much. For one thing, there should be a separate help account to deal with issues like this because if I’m following and am looking for updates on the fight, the last thing I want to see on my timeline is dozens of the same tweet being sent to individual people. If I was having issues, and I saw that impersonal tweet and saw it dominate my timeline, I probably would be more upset than if they just didn’t say anything.
Despite starting things a half hour later and having those in attendance boo, putting the start of the fight on Periscope was at least an attempt to make a problem right. It might not have been ideal but it was what it was.
It’s unknown what the fallout will be or if there will be any compensation as a result of the technical difficulties. Despite being late, Barstool technically got to broadcast the entire event but admitting the error and doing something for viewers may help bring them back for the next event.
