Looks like the TV networks are chasing influence, not just talent. Fox Sports has made a splash by partnering with Barstool Sports. The deal will see Barstool founder Dave Portnoy become a regular host on Fox’s premier Saturday college football pregame show, Big Noon Kickoff. This seems to be a direct play against ESPN’s success with Pat McAfee on College GameDay, with Portnoy expected to bring his enthusiastic fan perspective to the program, which is a good fit considering Fox’s Big Ten coverage and Portnoy’s Michigan roots. But looks like this move holds a bigger impact than said.
Well, bringing in Portnoy shows the kind of massive following Fox Sports is trying to bring in, just like ESPN did with Pat McAfee. And On3’s insider Andy Staples didn’t mince words before pointing this out, “Like you can’t get up there and say boring stuff. He doesn’t say boring stuff. Like they are hiring him to say interesting things, and that’s going to p–s some people off. I mean, it’s a—part of this is doing what they did with McAfee, what ESPN did with McAfee, because McAfee reached a different audience. McAfee reached this audience that we’re trying to reach here on YouTube, which is—that’s where the bulk of your audience is going to come from in the future.”
Best part? It’s not just the idea of grabbing the audience that Pat McAfee is reaching, but also trying to compete against them. Their move? Front Office Sports reports that Barstool might also launch its own pregame show at select Big Ten games, airing just before Big Noon Kickoff. During the week, Portnoy and Dan “Big Cat” Katz will host a new daily show on FS1. Produced by Barstool, the program will compete with ESPN’s popular morning shows like Get Up with Mike Greenberg and First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – JANUARY 25: Dave Portnoy attends the 2020 Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series at Gulfstream Park on January 25, 2020 in Hallandale, Florida…People: Dave Portnoy Hallandale United States Of America – ZUMAs214 20200125_zba_s214_090 Copyright: xSMGx
Now, this move comes as FS1 seeks to improve after the recent cancellations of shows like Craig Carton’s Breakfast Ball and Emmanuel Acho’s The Facility. The disappointing ratings of those shows left Colin Cowherd’s midday show struggling, especially against Pat McAfee’s popular daily program on ESPN. But it doesn’t just stop at that. Fox Sports is mirroring ESPN’s strategy with its Barstool partnership, modeled after ESPN’s licensing of Pat McAfee’s show, which gives Barstool editorial freedom. Now, you know why Andy Staples said, “You will either develop an audience or you won’t. And McAfee developed an audience. The Barstool shows developed an audience. Like, that’s why these big networks are now going—because the networks know, like, their business model is dying.”
Even though Fox Sports hasn’t commented, this move comes amid the cancellation of Speak, hosted by Joy Taylor, Keyshawn Johnson, and Paul Pierce. FS1 will retain shows like First Things First with Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd in the afternoons, betting on Barstool’s large and loyal audience to boost its morning programming. Well, this isn’t the first time Barstool is trying to make it into mainstream TV. Back in 2017, ESPN briefly aired Barstool Van Talk, a spin-off of the Pardon My Take podcast, on ESPN2.
But it was pulled after one late-night episode due to internal criticism, with then-president John Skipper stating, “While we had approval of the content of the show, I erred in assuming we could distance our efforts from the Barstool site and its content.” Despite past controversies and criticism, Portnoy and Barstool maintain a strong fan following, and Pardon My Take’s constant rank among top-five sports podcasts is proof of it. Now, apart from the crazy fan base, there’s another thing that Dave Portnoy’s going to bring in with him.
Dave Portnoy’s move comes from losing 3 shows
With Joy Taylor’s co-hosted Speak exiting Fox Sports after almost ten years and FS1 is also axing its morning shows Breakfast Ball and The Facility, one thing is pretty clear: FS1 is trying to free up some space to fill in some shows from Barstool Sports. Even Andy Staples said the same, “I think this may be the bigger piece of the deal: you saw that FS1 cancelled a bunch of their shows. It sounds like some of the Barstool shows are going to go on to FS1. So, like our friends at Pardon My Take, they are probably going to get, you know, basically just rebroadcast on linear television, which they don’t need because they’ve already got the biggest podcast in the world.”
This shakeup comes after a difficult year for FS1, which included former programming executive Charlie Dixon’s exit following multiple harassment allegations. In one lawsuit, makeup artist Noushin Faraji accused Dixon of sexual battery and claimed Taylor told her to “get over it,” a claim Taylor has denied. All three canceled shows were developed during Dixon’s time at the network.
Though The Herd and First Things First will continue airing on FS1, the network plans to fill the newly available time slots with fresh shows. There’s a chance Craig Carton, of Breakfast Ball fame, will be back on WFAN, joining his ex-partner Evan Roberts, who now co-hosts afternoon drive with Tiki Barber. But for now, the only thing that’s turning heads is Dave Portnoy’s move to FS1. Now, let’s wait and see how this partnership actually turns out!
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