When Fox Sports announced its partnership with Barstool Sports last month, there were naturally many skeptics questioning whether the partnership would work given some of the controversial elements that comes along with a Barstool affiliation. But now that the partnership has begun, Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks believes that Barstool has brought one important element to the network that separates Fox from some of its competitors.
Dave Portnoy’s presence on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff hasn’t been enough for Fox to beat ESPN’s College GameDay to this point. But Portnoy has made a clear difference, as Big Noon Kickoff was up significantly in year-over-year viewership in both Week 1 and Week 2 of the college football season.
Meanwhile, Barstool’s morning studio show on FS1, Wake Up Barstool, admittedly hasn’t had a strong start from a ratings perspective, but it has largely been a bit of a trial and error period as they continue to tinker with which personalities should appear on the show.
Overall, Eric Shanks has been pleased with how the partnership has gone, speaking to how Barstool has always perfectly encapsulated the “voice of the fan,” an important element to any studio show or live broadcast.
“When it comes to Big Noon Kickoff and what we do in the college football space, there’s really no better voice of the fan than Barstool,” Shanks said at a Front Office Sports event on Tuesday . “We thought that bringing that into the Big Noon Kickoff show…has been tremendous. It’s a really good start to figuring out how we can be more of a voice of the fan. College sports is all about rivalries and fandoms, and there are no better rivalries than in college sports. We think Barstool is the perfect partner for us.”
One of the many concerns prior to the debut of Barstool content on Fox is how a partnership with the outlet would look to some of Fox’s league partners. After all, Dave Portnoy’s relationship with the NFL has certainly been spotty at the best of times and outright heated at the worst of times.
However, Shanks made it clear that the partnership with Barstool was not a move to “poke” at any league partners, but instead a decision to help bring popularity to the network.
“We do view ourselves as kind of the unpaid marketing arm for all of our partners. We use our best judgment for what we think can make their sports more popular,” he explained. “Hopefully, over time, we can find that trust and that medium. We’re not out to poke anybody. We’re here to try to make every one of their businesses bigger.”
Ultimately, it remains to be seen how the partnership between Barstool and the NFL will look down the road. But at least for the time being, Barstool clearly has not worn out their welcome at Fox.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.