By this point, the story regarding how Bussin’ with the Boys wound up leaving Barstool Sports has been well established. Co-hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan wanted to stay at a discounted rate, but were offered too much money elsewhere for Dave Portnoy to match.
Now we have a better idea of how much money they were willing to turn down.
Earlier this week, Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast released a two-hour interview with Portnoy. And when it came to Bussin’ with the Boys’ departure, the Barstool Sports founder revealed new details regarding the sponsorship deal that the popular podcast received from FanDuel.
“The Bussin’ guys just — three years for $30 million from FanDuel, that’s more than we can do,” Portnoy told Sharpe. “So good luck, great relationship, I’m happy for them.”
“Damn, three for 30?” Sharpe asked, while seemingly alluding to his own podcasting free agency.
“Yep,” Portnoy replied. “Was I not even supposed to say that? I don’t give a f*ck… they got the bag.”
While Bussin’ with the Boys‘ FanDuel deal comes in the form of a sponsorship, Portnoy later explained that the show was forced to make a decision to stay or leave Barstool due to its own sponsorship deal with DraftKings. And that could potentially put Barstool in similar situations down the road, especially considering the amount of money that currently exists in the sports gambling industry.
“DraftKings pays us ton of money. If Bussin‘s with us or not with us, that doesn’t change a cent of what Barstool makes,” Dave Portnoy said. “So another gambling company can be like, ‘hey, we can pay you all this money.’ We have no way to make that up. If it was a different advertiser, if it was a liquor, we can just incorporate it, give the money to them. But in this case, we have an exclusivity… so it puts us behind the eight ball. And these guys have infinity money, these gambling companies right now. They’re spending like wildfire.”
Barstool’s deal with DraftKings, which was first announced last year, reportedly pays the sports brand in the “low eight figures per year,” so it’s certainly notable that one of its individual shows was able to attract a relatively similar payday on its own. That could bode well for Barstool whenever its multiyear agreement with DraftKings expires, although it will also be worth monitoring whether FanDuel (or any other gambling companies) continues to use a similar approach to attract Barstool talent when their own deals are up.
Despite Bussin’ with the Boys‘ desire to stay — Portnoy says Compton and Lewan would have done so if Barstool agreed to match 40 percent of the FanDuel deal — the show is clearly doing just fine on its own. And there aren’t any hard feelings on Portnoy’s end either, with the Boston native naming Compton as the first ex-Barstool talent he would bring back if he could when prompted by Sharpe.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.