The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 29 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Portnoy: Investment bank Moelis & Company 'absolutely suck'
“We hired molus, which is like a banking. Yeah, they suck. They absolutely suck.”
Dave Portnoy says he will vote for Donald Trump in the presidential election
“I'll vote for Trump in the presidency because I want the country to get along.”
Portnoy: Democrats bypassing 2024 primary is worse than anything Trump did
“I think that what the Democrats have done is far worse than really anything Trump has done, like, in terms of not allowing a primary.”
Portnoy: Angel Reese owes her mainstream recognition to Caitlin Clark rivalry
“People would not, the majority of people would not know who she was if it wasn't for her going at Caitlin Clark and becoming her rival by really trash talking her,”
Portnoy: Business Insider sexual misconduct allegations against him were garbage
“The heavy accusations, like Business Insider, when, like, sexual misconduct type stuff, like, all garbage”
Portnoy says ESPN refused to hire Pat McAfee before Barstool signed him
“McAfee came on and he knew he wanted to get into media. I think he wanted to work at ESPN. They wouldn't hire him. We did, and obviously the rest of the history with him.”
Portnoy: Penn completed the ESPN partnership without his involvement
“They did the ESPN deal without, without me being involved.”
Portnoy: Chernin acquired 51% of Barstool at a $12.5M valuation
“So they, yeah, they valued the company at I think 12 and a half million wildly. I didn't know what I was doing. They really, that was too low, but whatever. That's what they valued it for. I think I got about, if I recall, three and a half million went to me p…”
Portnoy: Barstool rejects traditional media talent coaching as obsolete
“We don't do any of that. I would say all those people, anybody who tried to do what you just described, Subscribed would not fit with us, and I'd say is a dinosaur.”
Portnoy: Legacy network talent usually requires constant hand-holding
“Like, again, the people we've hired from networks, the talent, it's like they need their hand held for the most part.”
Portnoy: Core beliefs align more with left, but hate comes from left
“My core beliefs generally tend, and people who follow me for a long time know this, tend to line up with the left more than it does with the right, but the hate I get comes from the left, not the right.”
Dave Portnoy says he would have voted for Nikki Haley in the primaries
“I said during the primaries, I would have voted for Nikki Haley.”
Portnoy: $200K salary is barely enough to live in Manhattan
“For a young person, you know, you could pay him 200 grand a year, and that is barely enough for someone to live in Manhattan.”
Portnoy: Developing digital talent inherently leads to agent negotiations and departures
“It's the talent business where inherently we're trying to find new stars, build them up just so they can turn around, hire an agent, negotiate us. And then leave.”
Portnoy: Nike's Caitlin Clark deal is biggest steal in sports marketing history
“I said when Nike did the deal with her, I thought it was the most, the biggest steal, like, in the history of sports marketing.”
Portnoy: Barstool could have easily inflated gross revenue before 2016 sale
“If I had a year to build up for that sale and I just wanted to inflate our gross revenue, I could have done that easily.”
Portnoy: Barstool surpassed its 5-year $50M valuation target in six months
“The original business plan said in five years, they wanted to sell it for like fifty million. That was the original business plan, and we got past that in like six months.”
Portnoy: Barstool approaches media talent discovery like a record label
“No idea what would become with her podcast, but we were willing to take chances almost like a band label type model. It's like you hire this talent and you hope they hit. There's a lot of misses we have.”
Dave Portnoy says he took zero vacation days for 10 years building Barstool
“Built Barcelona, didn't take a vacation day for 10 years.”
Portnoy: One Bite Pizza was the largest frozen lunch launch in Walmart history
“Now I did a one, excuse me, a one bite frozen pizza. It was the biggest frozen lunch Walmart ever had.”
Portnoy: Creators on third-party platforms are far easier to de-platform
“If you're on someone else's platform, it's a lot easier to de-platform them because you have advertisers and somebody above who don't want to deal with the headache or anything like that”
Portnoy: Barstool Sports will focus on breaking even, not aggressive growth
“I want Barstool to be a place where we break even or make money.”
Portnoy says he will never become a billionaire off Barstool
“I'm never gonna become like a billionaire off parcel unless someone pays it.”
Portnoy gave 10% to 12% of Barstool equity to early employees
“For the most part, yes, I had given away 10 to 12% of the company to my long-term employees.”
Portnoy: DraftKings offered him stock when it only had four employees
“DraftKings, when there were four people, they offered me stock in the company.”
Portnoy: Barstool Sportsbook launch reached around 15% market share in Pennsylvania
“And the launch is actually. Very successful in terms of, you know, we were up 15% or so in Pennsylvania, other states, pretty good launches”