The history between ESPN and Barstool Sports is complicated. But Dave Portnoy is taking a victory lap after seeing his former alumni receive their own show on the network.
Although it seems unfathomable now, ESPN and Barstool were in business together, but it did not last long. ESPN launched Barstool Van Talk in 2017, featuring Pardon My Take stars Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger. However, then-ESPN President John Skipper canceled the program after one episode aired, citing other controversies surrounding Barstool.
The business relationship between ESPN and Barstool was troubled from the start, with Sam Ponder specifically speaking out to condemn the partnership given offensive comments about her from the platform. Eventually, the heat got to the point where ESPN backed out of the relationship.
But it’s now 2026, and the sports media landscape is very different. Barstool has become as mainstream as any network and has a formal relationship with Fox Sports. Meanwhile, although ESPN isn’t directly associating with Barstool, it’s leaning on multiple former Stoolies as part of its new content lineup.
Pat McAfee’s early ascent in the media world came at Barstool, although his exit was far from smooth and he has grown his following significantly since those early days. And now former Barstool hosts and Bussin’ with the Boys stars Taylor Lewan and Will Compton are getting their own college football show alongside Josh Pate.
Espn really just Barstool Jr now 😂 https://t.co/z4oA44iQ0G
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 23, 2026
Did Dave Portnoy lose the battle but win the war with ESPN?
The Barstoolization of ESPN is definitely something that has been easily observable in recent years. And that’s been accentuated in the most recent round of layoffs at the company. Dan Le Batard went as far as to say the network is trying to get all of the woke out of the building in Bristol. And that hasn’t just been the case with ESPN; it’s been a trend in the wider culture as well.
Things have been going very well for Portnoy in Barstool in recent years. He was able to flip his company back and forth with Penn Entertainment for an insane profit, ink a deal with Fox Sports, and write a New York Times best-seller. But his biggest win may be that he and Barstool have found his way into the mainstream in a way that could not have been imagined a decade ago. And ESPN looks a lot more like Barstool these days than Barstool looks like ESPN.
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