When news broke a few weeks back that Barstool Sports was nearing a partnership deal with DraftKings, it was noted that they wouldn’t be able to complete the deal until after Super Bowl LVIII due to a noncompete clause with former owner Penn.
Turns out that was very literal as Barstool officially announced its multi-year partnership with DraftKings within minutes of the Kansas City Chiefs completing their 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
The deal was officially announced in a video posted by Barstool owner Dave Portnoy in which he and several other Barstool personalities reenacted the American Express commercial from Major League.
“Breaking News: Im proud to announce that Barstool has signed a multi year monster deal with DraftKings,” wrote Portnoy. “We’re back to our roots. DK is once again the exclusive sports betting partner of Barstool Sports. The more things change the more they stay the same.”
The announcement comes six months following Penn Entertainment’s decision to sell the company back to Portnoy to cut a deal with ESPN and rebrand its sportsbook to ESPN Bet. While six months might seem like a short non-compete period, it makes sense given how motivated Penn was to part ways with Barstool, selling it back to Portnoy for $1 after initially buying the company for over $550 million.
Terms of the Barstool-Draftkings deal were not announced.
Along with the promotional aspect of their relationship, we’ll have to wait and see how much Barstool content ends up on the DraftKings Network.
The company also recently announced a new partnership with the anti-cancel culture video platform Rumble for access to their video content.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.