Clay Travis and Dave Portnoy have more in common than either would like to admit.
They both built successful sports media empires. They both loathe ESPN. And they both rail against anything they deem “woke.”
The split, however, comes when Travis, an ex-lawyer turned right-wing firebrand, dismisses Barstool Sports as no real competitor to Outkick. Not because the two brands serve different audiences but because, as Travis points out, he doesn’t hire “super libs” like Portnoy does.
It’s unclear exactly when Barstool became part of the “woke liberal mob,” especially given that Portnoy has been a public Donald Trump supporter for years. He’s also been consistent in saying he despises the extremes on both sides, the kind of ideological nuance doesn’t seem to cut it for Travis, who appears to have launched a full-blown holy war against Barstool Sports and its founder.
In a recent conversation with Semafor Media, Clay Travis dismissed the idea of Barstool being competition to the outlet he founded and sold to Fox, Outkick. While many consider the two brands to be rivals, Travis doesn’t. He believes Outkick exists in its own category, not because it’s bigger or brasher, but because of its unabashed commitment to covering sports through a conservative lens.
“I’m actually stunned that we don’t have competition because I feel like we created beer and no one else will share a competing beer,” Travis said.
That’s when Semafor’s Ben Smith asked the obvious follow-up: Does he really not consider Barstool competition?
“I don’t really see them as competition,” he replied. “No, I don’t. Because I think if I were structuring the breakdown, first of all, Barstool employs a lot of people that are super libs. That would be the white dudes for Kamala. Nobody talks about it.”
“But you don’t employ libs. Is that like a policy?”
“Well, I don’t think we have a white dude who voted for Harris,” Travis said. “If we did good for them. I would question why their testosterone is so low, but they’re able to vote for whoever they want.”
That sounds more like gatekeeping than policy.
But a couple of things here. First, Dave Portnoy actually turned down an interview with Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. Yes, Barstool might employ a few “super libs,” but that doesn’t mean the left beloves them. Just log onto Bluesky and scroll through the replies anytime someone posts about Barstool or Portnoy. You won’t see a warm reception from progressive circles.
In fact, Democratic operatives often view Barstool as on the other side of the aisle. Tommy Vietor, formerly a Barack Obama spokesperson and now of Pod Save America and Crooked Media, has openly acknowledged this, stressing that when Democrats appear on Barstool, they are reaching voters who would probably never willingly listen to NPR or MSNBC. And that’s something they failed to do in 2024.
Travis wants to be the face of conservative sports media. Portnoy doesn’t, but he often ends up in that role anyway. The difference? One is trying to win a culture war. The other wants to keep selling merch, talking sports, and lighting up whoever pisses him off that day.