Jake Marsh leaving Barstool Sports, ‘Pardon My Take’

For the past 4-5 months, Jake Marsh was grappling with the inevitable.

With Barstool Sports no longer pursuing live broadcasting rights, Marsh’s time at Dave Portnoy’s company didn’t seem for long. After spending five years at Barstool, which saw him as a fixture on Pardon My Take, as well as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Arizona Bowl and the Barstool’s College Basketball Invitational, Marsh announced Wednesday that he’s moving on to pursue other opportunities.

Marsh had served as the play-by-play voice for the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl for the past two years. But as the company no longer retained rights to the bowl game, with that now being branded by Snoop Dogg, it proved difficult for Marsh to continue his passion for doing play-by-play.

During Wednesday’s episode of PMT, he went in-depth on his decision to avoid any speculation.

The best five years of my life. Thank you for everything, @PardonMyTake. pic.twitter.com/iuBSNXFkzr

— Jake Marsh (@PMTsportsbiz) June 19, 2024

“One of the dominoes for this happening right now is the direction that Barstool’s going in,” Marsh said. “Live broadcasting rights are no longer a priority for this company. And that’s not a secret. (Big Cat’s) talked about it, Dave’s talked about it. And, obviously, that was my bread and butter here. That was where I thrived the most. I am so fortunate that I got to call multiple bowl games on national television, college basketball, hockey, and professional golf, which led to these PGA Tour events from the connections I made there.

“When you guys hired me as an intern five years ago to mock Darren Rovell, I never thought any of that was remotely possible. I was just here to say yes to whatever you guys wanted, to prove that I was a hard worker and had this great opportunity on this massive platform.”

In fighting emotions, Marsh watched his PMT summer internship interview a few days back and recalled one of the questions asking him where he saw himself in 5-10 years. And without hesitation, Marsh said that he wanted to be a national network play-by-play broadcaster.

“That brings us to now, and that is where I’m going all in on,” he said. “I’ve been all in on it for a while. There’s a reason why I don’t curse on the air. There’s a reason why I’m not gonna do the Ray Allen tweet(s) because I was making this inevitable jump; it’s so that I have no regrets, I have nothing to hide, and I am so proud of what I’ve done here in five years.

“I’ve accomplished a lot, thanks to you guys, and it’s been an incredible ride. But doing it right now and making this jump, we all agree it makes the most sense because it’s the beginning of the summer. It’s kind of like the offseason in sports and broadcasting. If I make myself publicly, fully available right now, best-case scenario, I’m in the booth calling college football this fall. Is that going to happen? Is that reality? I don’t know, but the odds are to increase by making this jump right now.”

“Me and Big Cat have always said that one day you’re going to go try to do live broadcasts, and we’re gonna wish you the best,” PFT Commenter added. “And we’re going to be firmly in your corner. That’s very, very true to this day. I wish you the best career possible. I hope one day you’re calling a Super Bowl that we’re watching and losing bets on.”

[Jake Marsh]