Saint Portnoy?

• By  Zonker
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Updated 1/12/22

I originally published this, with more info, in Dec 2020 when the fund was new. I haven’t really kept up but the link to the fund’s web page is still valid, and they can be reached at barstoolfund@barstoolsports.com

The “Barstool Fund” is collecting money to aid small businesses, threatened with collapse due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. You can find info here

The fund’s objective is certainly worthy, and I have seen no reason to doubt that the funds are being used appropriately, but as a disclaimer I only know what they’ve said & I did not see it listed on Charity Navigator.

While I see the fund as a worthy cause, it is also a terrific tool for improving the image of a company and founder who want people to look past a disgraceful reputation for misogynistic attacks on women, racist humor, content theft and other misdeeds (see links below). My current (Dec 2020)understanding is that Dave is donating $500K of his own (or perhaps Barstool Sports’?) money to the cause, with the rest coming from donations both large and small. This could change and Dave/Barstool Sports could choose to contribute more, but as it stands now it is fantastic content and promotion at an incredibly low price. For many people, this could be the first they hear of Barstool Sports.

If you are (or were) a believer that Covid-19/Coronavirus is a hoax, it is probably a waste of time to for you to read this next part.

In March when sane people were sending out warnings that we could be facing a major pandemic, Dave Portnoy was downplaying the seriousness of it. Early on we had absolutely the best chance to slow the spread of the virus and not overwhelm hospitals. Had more people taken it seriously then, many small businesses that are already closed might still be open. A person with almost 2 million, often very devoted, followers, downplaying the need to take steps to protect themselves or those around them, certainly didn’t help the situation.

 

There have been tweets responding to me that say no one was taking it seriously then, but who was promoting the “Fraud” he was tweeting about? Another offered as a defense that Democrats were saying it was ok to patronize “Chinese” restaurants. In my experience, this kind of ignorance is not unusual with Saint Portnoy’s fans.

Of course, I can only speculate on what Portnoy’s motivations for these tweets were, but he had made it clear that the bulk of his wealth was invested in the stock of Penn National Gaming (due to PENN making a huge investment in Barstool Sports) some of which could not be sold until after a certain amount of time. While Portnoy was posting these tweets, the looming threat of shutdowns, and public fear of this deadly pandemic was cratering his PENN holdings. In early March PENN’s stock price was falling rapidly and eventually fell to just 12% of its February high. Dave’s net worth was plummeting fast. It seems to me that an obvious motivation would be to convince people to oppose shutdowns and not be fearful of supporting the business he was heavily invested in. Possibly his tirade earlier this month (Dec 2020) which led to the dare, that inspired the fund, was motivated by new fears of potential shutdowns effecting PENN.

Marcus Lemonis, who dared Dave to make a $500K contribution to helping businesses, thus inspiring the fund,  had already created a foundation to help that he kicked off with a $50 Million pledge and supports a program that aids restaurants that help to feed the hungry. You can learn about it and donate to it here. Dave could have donated to and promoted this charity or any other, but then how much Barstool Sports content would that produce?

Saint Portnoy seems to me to be more of an opportunist than a philanthropist. He is not a hero and no one should be allowed to buy absolution, let alone sainthood.

Many other wealthy people have been donating large sums of their own money to worthy causes for decades, most without nearly as much bragging. There’s a difference between promoting a fund to secure donations and using it to tell people how great you are.

 

Portnoy, who for 9 months did nothing to aid people adversely effected by the pandemic, and during the spring urged people to spread the virus by telling them it was a “fraud”, now wants everyone to praise Barstool Sports as if they are the first organization that has offered help.

 

Jack is a Barstool Sports Employee

 

Some ignorant celebrities are also singling out Barstool Sports as deserving more attention or praise, as if others have not offered aid for longer and have accomplished more. Where are their calls for attention for the people who have been helping a lot longer than “Saint Portnoy”?

 

 

“Nobody Else”?

 

I think Barstool Sports, and its fans have always greatly overestimate how many people know or care who they are.  News of the fund will likely be the first many people ever hear of Barstool Sports and that makes the publicity from the fund especially valuable. If the media mentions them it makes sense they should also mention Barstool Sports history for context.

If someone does mention their “controversial” status.

Did Portnoy really think his donations should buy him a pass from the media?

Dave has been a regular guest on Tucker Carlson’s show, and he had been promoted by everyone from FoxNews to the Federalist who promoted the idea that Barstool is Doing More For Small Businesses Than Congress  ignoring the fact that Congress had funded more than $650 Billion in aid to businesses through their, arguably poorly designed and implemented, Paycheck Protection Program. They recently added another $284 Billion and also made improvements to the program  This take fits a far Right narrative that public aid is often not necessary because private programs can provide the help. Who needs the government to provide 100s of Billions in aid if a private fund can provide 10s of Millions?

While the political “Left” was urging more government help, Saint Portnoy was appearing on “Right Wing” programs that throw their support behind the Republican efforts for a smaller aid package. Portnoy has become a bit of a darling on the right so the spurious claims of bias fall clearly on the left. The apparent political leaning of  Portnoy and his use of the fund for self-promotion could be a reason to look for alternative ways to contribute

While the Barstool Fund is a good cause and may potentially help 100s of businesses (while promoting Barstool Sports), the real heroes are the thousands if not millions of people who aren’t wealthy but donate their time and/or money to helping others without self-promoting virtue signaling and frequently without any fanfare. The medical personnel and first responders, who faced greater danger because of people like Saint Portnoy downplaying the risk, have been amazing.

This is a list of a few other programs to aid those effected by the pandemic (not updated) Most, if not all, of whom have been at it a lot longer than Barstool Sports. With a search, you can find others (perhaps local) as well.

The Barstool Fund is a worthy cause, if you want donate, but please don’t let yourself be fooled about what Barstool, Nardini and Saint Portnoy are really about, and please check out the other programs above.

Here are some links about Barstool Sports, the company CEO, Erika Nardini, has described as the “least sexist ” of her employers: 

An excellent article by Megan Greenwell about Erika Nardini and Barstool Sports in. It includes a video.

A short clip from Inside Edition  The comment section says a lot about what appeals to Barstool Sports fans.

A Guardian article on Saint Portnoy’s Sam Ponder rant.  

Portnoy tries to rewrite history and downplay his Ponder rant in this clip from HBO  He fails pretty badly.

Media Matters Took a comprehensive look at Barstool Sports

Tom Ley reports on Portnoy’s view of  Harvey Weinstein.

Will Leitch in New York Magazine.

In Variety Unapologetic over using racist language 

Robert Silverman on Barstool Sports Culture of Online Hate  includes a video (pay close attention at 2:30)Bar

Barstool Sports’ Content theft controversy

Z

“Trust those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.” –André Gide