Barstool Sports Founder Hints at Plans for Layoffs

Barstool Sports, the leading sports media brand, founded by Dave Portnoy, may lay off some of its employees, its founder and current owner confirmed on Barstool Sports Radio recently. Initially founded in 2003, Barstool Sports was acquired by Penn Entertainment in a deal with a total price tag of $551 million, dating to 2020. After Penn spent years and some half a billion dollars to raise awareness of its betting brand through association with the famous sports media, the company decided to sell Barstool back to Portnoy.

Not even a full month after he retained ownership of Barstool, Portnoy confirmed the plans for layoffs. He said that he doesn’t only dislike but even hates cuts and layoffs, but pointed out that this is the only way Barstool can progress forward. According to Portnoy, the company loses more than $10 million a year, which pushed him to the difficult decision about the layoffs.

“I’ve been very clear. Anybody that’s paid attention, we are going to have layoffs and cuts, and they’ve started and it sucks. And people who know me from the beginning I hate firing people. You can be incompetent, not work and I generally don’t fire because I hate it so much. It’s the worst thing to f***ing do,“

explained Dave Portnoy on Barstool Sports Radio

Getting Back to Breaking Even

Addressing the seriousness of the situation, Portnoy said that it is a “no-brainer” considering that if there are no layoffs, everyone may lose their jobs. He stressed the difficulty of that decision and added that Barstool needs to become stable once again. Finally, Portnoy reiterated that the company is losing millions which is not a good thing.

“We’ll all not have jobs. So we have to get back to a break-even thing. We’re losing a lot and it sucks,“

added Portnoy

Barstool’s founder did not confirm how many employees will be affected by the upcoming layoffs. However, a recent report released by the New York Post suggested that the company may lay off an estimated 25% of its workforce. Currently, Barstool has approximately 430 employees. This means that approximately 100 jobs may be affected by the layoffs if that projection becomes reality.