Days after it was first announced, the sports media world is still dissecting Fox Sports’ new partnership with Barstool Sports, which will include Dave Portnoy joining the cast of Big Noon Kickoff.
That included on Monday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, in which the show’s host laid out his expectations for what the Barstool Sports founder will bring to the Saturday morning pregame show.
The discussion began with guest host Greg Cote questioning what a personality like Portnoy could bring to such a show that would make it more appealing than what ESPN has to offer with College GameDay and the presence of Nick Saban. After Le Batard pointed to Portnoy’s track record as a provocateur, producer Billy Gil offered a dissenting view, stating that the show’s host was overstating the Boston native’s shock jock status.
“Disagree, Billy,” Le Batard replied. “We’ll see. It probably won’t happen early ’cause there are gonna be some nerves involved. But I would say that’s the only reason he’s there. Like, why put that person who doesn’t have any particular expertise on college football — he just gambles on it. Why put that person in the center…”
Co-host/producer Mike Ryan Ruiz interjected by stating that gambling content has plenty of appeal to college football fans and pointed to the success of Barstool Sports’ own traveling college football show. He also stated that Portnoy’s affinity for the Big Ten and specifically Michigan football is “right to the core audience of what Fox does.”
Gil remained unmoved, questioning how much the prospect of Portnoy poking fun at Urban Meyer on the Big Noon Kickoff set will actually move the needle.
“He’s good at being controversial,” Le Batard replied. “It comes to him naturally. So I assume that he will understand that if he has to be there, he has to fit in, but also he has to make his worth known while there. Like McAfee found his footing for a while. Like it took him a couple of minutes and it’s gonna take Portnoy a couple of minutes. But it’s a strange thing to have — like nothing like him has ever been on the center of one of these things other than Rush Limbaugh.”
Ruiz responded by offering Bill Simmons as a comparison of a panelist intended to represent the average spots fan. Le Batard, however, disagreed, noting that the Sports Guy isn’t nearly as politically polarizing as Portnoy is.
“I think he will be there to bring attention and he knows how to bring attention and he’s good at it,” Le Batard said. “And at this point, if he gets fired, it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t need the job.”
“I think he gives off asshole on purpose and he’s proud of it and he doesn’t back down from it,” the Meadowlark Media co-founder added after some further back-and-forth.
“I mean, two peas in a pod,” Ruiz retorted. “Game recognize game.”
“It’s a mirror,” Le Batard conceded.
While Le Batard isn’t wrong that Portnoy’s presence on Big Noon Kickoff (like most TV hirings) is intended to attract attention, he is likely overstating his status as a polarizing figure in 2025. As Ruiz noted, regardless of your opinion of him, the current perception of Portnoy is one that’s rooted in authenticity. He may be a nontraditional panelist for a nationally televised college football pregame show, but he’s also not the type to say something just for the sake of making headlines.
Fox’s hiring of Portnoy isn’t quite as safe as ESPN adding Simmons to NBA Countdown, but Le Batard’s comparison to Limbaugh is a bit extreme. All things considered, your opinion of the move likely depends on a variety of factors, including your age, political leanings and of course, if you happen to root for Ohio State.