1 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of the Strictly Business podcast, where 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: we talked with some of the brightest minds working in 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: the media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. Well, the 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: struggles of companies like Vice and BuzzFeed seem to be 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: well documented these days, not everyone in the digital content 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: publishing world is suffering. Bar Stool Sports, for one, is 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: attracting a growing audience at some controversy with a business 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: that spans everything from podcast to get this pink lemonade vodka. 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: Here to discuss all things bar Stool is. It's CEO 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: Eric and Ardini. Erica, thanks for coming in, Thanks for 11 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: having me. I'm hoping you're going to tell me the 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: secret formula. It's not. It's a little more complicated. Lemonade 13 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: and is slightly more complicated, and it's the rest of 14 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,279 Speaker 1: your business is very complicated as well. Well, we'll get 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: to the beverages in time. But what I want to 16 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: do first is, I know there aren't many audiences for 17 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: media brands out there that are devoted as the so 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: called stew Leys as they're known, But I want to 19 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: explain Barstool first to the uninitiated. I know there's a 20 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: lot of brands out in the sports world, from ESPN 21 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: to bleacher Report. So how would you say bar stools 22 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: voice differentiates from those typical players in the space. Yeah. 23 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: I think Barstool Sports is infinitely an Internet company. We 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: were born of the Internet. Dave Portnoy founded Barstool in 25 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: two thousand four. He developed a very distinct point of 26 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: view and voice which really resonated with what he would 27 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: have called at the time the common man. So what 28 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: really sets barstool apart tonally is that we are on 29 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: the same level as our fans. Were not purporting to 30 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: be journalists, were not purporting to be authorities. What we 31 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: really want to do is to make people laugh. It's 32 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: a company that does not have an agenda be on that. 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: We do satire, we have humor, We cover entertainment, we 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: certainly cover sports. But what makes Barstool very different is 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: really the Internet of it all. That we are focused 36 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: and born out of the Internet. There are plenty of 37 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: digital native content companies that are suffering right now and 38 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: being digital native didn't really help them. Yeah, what what 39 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: did you guys figure out that others didn't? I think 40 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: the what the challenge with Internet brands right now is 41 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: that they forgot about the consumer. There they point of 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: view and voice became commoditized. And when you have a 43 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: commoditized point of view or the content is on original 44 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: and you don't have a deep relationship with your audience, 45 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: and those two things go together, it is hard to 46 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: create a brand that can break through and resonate. And 47 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: you know, I've seen it. I worked and I've worked 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: in the internet for twenty years. So if you look 49 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: at you know, why does someone go to Yahoo versus 50 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: they go to a O Well versus you go to 51 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: Huffington Post, versus go to Vox. When you're publishing, you know, 52 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 1: a slightly different version of the same news story, you 53 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: become completely undifferentiated. It's commoditized, right, So I think there 54 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: were two. There are two main challenges in the media business, 55 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: whether it's an Internet business or traditional business. One is 56 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: the attrition in the digital space of advertising. Right the 57 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: advent of the social platforms, they sucked a lot of 58 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: the air out of the room in terms of traffic 59 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: and engagement and time spent. They took a lot of 60 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,239 Speaker 1: the value. You know, if you were to ask someone 61 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: at a major magazine publisher, you know, things that used 62 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: to be valued at for a dollar are now valued 63 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: at since and then the third piece of it is 64 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: that their businesses didn't diversify because the brands didn't grow. 65 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: If you can't find someone who wants to wear your 66 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: T shirt, your brand is going to struggle to have 67 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: a different business model than an ad driven business model. 68 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: And that's really been very key to our success, which 69 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: is we have a very diverse business because we have 70 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: brands that people want to identify with, that they do 71 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: identify with what they want to badge themselves with, and 72 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: are relatable and ongoing and differentiated and not commoditized. But 73 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: for all that relatability, as I was saying earlier, you 74 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: guys have had some controversy. There's been a lot of 75 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: criticism about everything from uh, sexism or harassment that has 76 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: either been part of the content or the conduct of 77 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: those following along on on social media. You know, is 78 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: this a problem for your company or is it really 79 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: actually just kind of part of the DNA of the 80 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: brand at this point. Yeah, it's a it's a good 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: question of whether it's a feature or above each right, um, 82 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: controversy isn't the intention of barstool sports. I think when 83 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: you think about the controversy or people look to examples 84 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: of the controversy, those are mostly things that have happened 85 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: in the past and are said by people who aren't 86 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: active listeners or participants or readers or viewers of Barstool Sports. Um, 87 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: so I would say the perception of controversy can be 88 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: grossly exaggerated. That said, I don't think it hurts The 89 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: controversy doesn't hurt us because it helps identify our base 90 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: and it also, you know, there's often a lot of 91 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: hypocrisy in that controversy and in the criticism of Barstool, 92 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: So that a great example. We are a sexist, misogynistic company. 93 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: We're the only company in media with nearly an entire 94 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: female c suite, So there's one. Two. We have more 95 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: women on the radio, more women starring in content than 96 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: you would find any sports media company proportionately to our size. 97 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: So it's things like that where actually this is a 98 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: very fascinating company. We are unafraid, we are unfiltered, which 99 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: often puts us in the headlines for a variety of reasons. 100 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: But it's that level of authenticity again, you know, to 101 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: use that word that that makes us breakthrough and res Nate, 102 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,799 Speaker 1: We're not playing it's safe. We're not covering hockey or football, 103 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: or entertainment or relationships or the headlines coming out of 104 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: the Internet the way everybody else is, and we don't 105 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: want to. But isn't that a double edged sword? Because 106 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: on the one hand, frankly, controversy has earned media. You 107 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: get publicity from that, and I think it also plays 108 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: well with your brand. On the other hand, are you 109 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,799 Speaker 1: guys a controversy or two away from an advertiser backlash? 110 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: That's always been the issue with all sorts of media 111 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: operations I think of like from Perez Hilton to w 112 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: w E. The bad boy image works to an extent 113 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: and then it doesn't. Yeah, I mean I think it's 114 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: working like we're not. We're not a controversy away from 115 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: an advertiser backlash. Our brand. Advertiser business has grown, I 116 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: think in the last two years, so the world is changing. 117 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: How people perceive what what people perceive as valuable, what 118 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: they perceive as real, what they perceive as resonating has 119 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: changed dramatically. We live in a world where attention is 120 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: the most scarce and finite research resource, or or it's 121 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: just it's precious and your and our ability to capture 122 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: headlines and interest and to maintain engagement from our audience 123 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: is what ultimately is going to make us an incredibly 124 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: powerful vehicle for brands and an incredibly powerful vehicle for ourselves. 125 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: And the brands are there, there's no question. And podcast 126 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: seem to be a big part of that right now, 127 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: several dozen podcasts in play that are giving you about 128 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: a third of the company's revenue. That's right. Yeah, so 129 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: we love podcasting in a barstol Sports started as a newspaper, uh. 130 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: It then evolved into a blog. From the blog, we 131 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: moved into podcasting and really live video. And when you 132 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: think about podcasts, right, podcasting is really a natural extension 133 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: of blogging. It's one person or a few people's point 134 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: of you. It's a conversation. It's first person thought. It's 135 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: on it's not linear. It can be long, it can 136 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: be sure, it can look and sound like anything. We 137 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: like that as a medium. I get how having the 138 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: kind of voices you have works well for podcasting. I'm 139 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: curious about how you approach it as a business. You 140 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: on Twitter recently went on a large rant, interesting rant 141 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: where you kind of acknowledged the growth opportunity that podcasts 142 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: represent right now, but also sort of the perils of 143 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: over programmatic. Yeah, I look like I've been in the 144 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: Internet since you were at a O L that I 145 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: was at it. I started my career fidelity investments, buying 146 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: the Internet advertising, and then you know, I went to Microsoft, 147 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: I worked at Yahoo, I worked at A well as 148 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: part of the demand media I p O like I 149 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: have seen. I've seen the big people, big players in 150 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: the business overlap twenty years, and we screwed up a 151 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: lot of things about digital media. It was a medium 152 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if you remember, but where 153 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: there was whizz bang pop ups, you know, unreadable content right, 154 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: unreadable content. You felt like you were going to get 155 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: a virus from going to a website. So you know, 156 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: we over monetized, right, We over monetized. We became too 157 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: smart and cute with programmatic and with s c O 158 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: and s c M. And the glory of podcasting is 159 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: that it's actually a very intimate medium. There is a 160 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: there is a true you're in somebody's ears, and there 161 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,439 Speaker 1: is a very intimate relationship. And you know this from 162 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: having a podcast between what you have to say the 163 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: people you interview, the conversations you're having and your audience. 164 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: When you put an AD that's prerecorded, it's dynamically inserted, 165 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: it's targeted to me as a consumer. When you slap 166 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: that in the middle of it zero context, the probability 167 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: that that ad is going to get skipped is extremely high. 168 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened with banner ads, right they 169 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: became wallpaper. Who looks at a banner ad anymore? Um So, 170 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: how do we, at this stage of the game prevent 171 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: podcast from falling down? That? I think the biggest thing 172 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: is that, you know, we've made a statement we are 173 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: sticking to host read, so we are going to integrate 174 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: brands into our content and into our conversations. Right, you 175 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: started this conversation by mentioning Pink Whitneys, which is, you know, 176 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: our flavored vodka that we have with New Amsterdam Vodka 177 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: that came out of an ad read. And it came 178 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: out of an ad read because it was a story 179 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: by one of our hosts about how he drinks his vodka. 180 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: And when you make an ad part of a content 181 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: experience and a brand part of a content experience, you know, 182 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: it's like it's almost evolving the very definition of advertising 183 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: to make it content that's what will perform. And so, 184 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: you know, I think the risk of podcasting is a 185 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: couple of things. One is from a content creator perspective 186 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: and a content create a content perspective. You're going to 187 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: see publishers treat this like video, whereby people will say, hey, 188 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: we have a slate of new, built of sold podcasts 189 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: that are about to launch. It's not going to work 190 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: because podcasting is really still at this stage of performance medium. 191 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: So anyone can have a brilliant idea for a podcast. 192 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: There's seven thousand podcasts right now in the world, so 193 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: there's a huge long tail. There's a huge glut of 194 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: content in podcasting. No one really cares if you have 195 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: a bunch of built of sold concepts, and there's no 196 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: assurance that it's going to work for an advertiser. So 197 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: so I see that as something that is going to 198 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: fail and not work in podcasting. The second piece is 199 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: that in order to harness a long tail, just like 200 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 1: the Internet, the ad tech folks and the kind of 201 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:58,719 Speaker 1: performance driven scale marketing people of the Internet will try 202 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: to create uniformity and they'll try to insert you know, 203 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: pre produced highly scaled, scalable, dynamic ads that don't require humans. 204 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: And I understand that I've been in those businesses. I've 205 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: helped build those businesses. I think that's counter to the 206 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: type of medium that podcasting is right now. But isn't 207 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: it possible though, that if you don't play that game, 208 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: you're not able to scale your business because you're doing 209 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: all this customized stuff. No, because I don't think it's 210 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: actually that custom and you'll maintain premium. See what will 211 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 1: happen is as the ad performance decreases, as the ad 212 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: skip rate increases, it's going to actually put price pressure downward, 213 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: price pressure pressure on the advertising, not upward price pressure. 214 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: Right when you look, if you asked anyone in the 215 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: music industry, or really any performance advertiser what the single 216 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: most important thing is, they'll tell you it's radio play 217 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: because the host listener relationship is so important. And when 218 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: you have a compelling host endorse a compelling product, the 219 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: r O I on that will beat any Internet product 220 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: and the time, and I think the same is true 221 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: in podcasting. So I get why you're bullish there. Here's 222 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: what I don't get. Um we go back a few years, 223 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,959 Speaker 1: you guys had sort of a notorious flirtation with ESPN. Yes, 224 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: we had a one night stand. One night stand literally 225 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: in terms of a one episode show. Um, but why 226 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: aren't okay? That was two years ago. If your brand 227 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 1: is as hot as it is now, where's the big 228 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: video play? Where is the the O T T brand? 229 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: Where is producing for other brands that don't necessarily give 230 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: you a show, but hey, you create a documentary from them? 231 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: What's the story there? We have our own O T 232 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: platforms and that is so Apple TV, Roku, Amazon YouTube. 233 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: We are on Snapchat. We have two of the top 234 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: five shows on Snapchat, where the number one streaming channel 235 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: on Serious x M. We are the fastest growing sports 236 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: brand on TikTok. So we are building our our own 237 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: real estate on all different types of platforms audio platforms, 238 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: social platforms, video platforms. What I believe is it's that 239 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: organic real estate that we can build ourselves, which is 240 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: the best place for our content. We have done an 241 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: incredible documentary on the history of Barstool Sports, really centered 242 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: around tap Portnoy, the founder. We put that into our 243 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: subscription product called Gold. So you know what I learned 244 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: from the ESPN experience and really linear television experiences. You know, one, 245 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: it's very appealing to get the validation to be on 246 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: someone else's network. That was exhilarating for us when we 247 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: did the rundown on Comedy Central, which was in at 248 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: the Super Bowl in that was an incredible experience. We 249 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: had trucks and big production and it was with bright lights, 250 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: and we learned the television format. But what you saw 251 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: was that an entire company dedicated all of its time 252 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: to one twenty eight minute production versus spending all of 253 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: its time building a hundred productions and running those productions 254 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: on its own channels. And so, you know, we will 255 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: do documentaries. We have a documentary, we have O T 256 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: T platforms. We are very deeply invested in video. That's 257 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: been our single biggest pivot, i would say, in the 258 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: last twenty four months. But you're not going to see 259 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: us give those to other people to build audiences on 260 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: their network. You're going to see them where you're going 261 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: to see us put it on our own platforms, build audiences, 262 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: monetize those directly, which is kind of a departure from 263 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 1: what a lot of companies are doing at their work. Yeah, 264 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: it's like everybody becomes when you can't bring people to 265 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: your own network and you need a more lucrative way 266 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: to make content, you sell content to someone else. Right, 267 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: So look at you know, Go ninety, you know, remember 268 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: the Go ninety deals or GO ninety doled out you know, 269 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: very very very lucrative checks to publishers, and then those 270 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: publishers spent all of their time making content for Go 271 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: nine d that, as it turns out, nobody saw. And 272 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: the question is doesn't really matter. Did the check from 273 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: Go ninety is that more important to the business or 274 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: is it the eyeballs on the content that was created? 275 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: And at Barstool Sports, it's the eyes on the content 276 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: that was created, not the check. So that's why I'm 277 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: building a business that's very diverse from a monetization perspective 278 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: and not does not have dependency on a single form 279 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: of revenue, so that I can keep our eyes on 280 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: what's most important, which is our content and our fans. 281 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: And of course, as you mentioned, you are active across 282 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: a lot of different platforms. But when I was interested 283 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: to read recently was one of these platforms, and now 284 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: is Telegram, which to my you know, a little background, 285 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: And if I'm getting this wrong, explain it differently. But 286 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: the content issues you were running into on platforms like Instagram, 287 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: or perhaps there was some sort of violence in particular footage. Um, 288 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: now if you're able to go on Telegram where there's 289 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: no kind of regulation of the content, But is there monetization? 290 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: They're like, what is? What is? Yeah? I believe that 291 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: we want to be in every place where our audiences 292 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: and if you look at the broadest sense, we have 293 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 1: people from twelve years of age who are following us 294 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: on Instagram, They're watching our pizza reviews religiously. They follow 295 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,959 Speaker 1: us on Twitter or on TikTok up to you know, 296 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: sixty year old guys reading the blog who are from 297 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 1: Boston and lived you know, lived in Boston when Da've 298 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: created the paper. We're really platform agnostic. We ultimately want 299 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: to connect with our fans in a medium that lets 300 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: us express ourselves in a way that we can be 301 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: as funny as possible, or we can bring our satire 302 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: to life and our humor and our point of view 303 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: to bear. But can you monetize there? But I'm not 304 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: worried about the monetization. So I'll give you an example 305 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: on Instagram, since you brings that up. Instagram and Facebook 306 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: are continually defining and tweaking their quote unquote community guidelines, 307 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: which is their prerogative, and I have total and utmost 308 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: respect for that. It's been long said that it's very 309 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: difficult to understand what those guidelines are, how and when 310 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: they change, because they change often, and to mitigate and 311 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: manage that as a publisher. So what what's Facebook prioritizing 312 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: in its feed? That's been a topic for ten years, right, 313 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: what's Instagram value in its feed? What's happening is Facebook 314 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: and Instagram or are becoming closer together. Two is that 315 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: they are also continually evolving and I think tightening those 316 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: community guidelines. We had a video of a girl riding 317 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: a bike and the bike hit a stairs and the 318 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: girl tumbled off the bike, and Instagram ultimately didn't like 319 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: that video because the girl could have gotten hurt. She 320 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: didn't get hurt, she was fine, she lived, she wasn't 321 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: substantially harm, but they don't like that there's a risk 322 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,440 Speaker 1: that she could have gotten hurt. A video like that 323 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: will get millions and millions and millions of views because 324 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: that video is you know, it's like America's home videos, right, 325 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: it's the allure of God. What happened in this video 326 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: is what makes it ultimately compelling. We want to respect 327 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: what's happening on Instagram, so we won't put that video 328 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: on Instagram. But ultimately, if you look at our eighteen 329 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: to twenty four year old audience, they love videos like that. 330 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 1: So those are the type of videos that we will 331 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: put on Telegram because our audience is there. They're looking 332 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: for content that's entertaining, and we want to deliver that 333 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: to them. Got it um. What was also interesting is 334 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: you guys have been experimenting recently with NASCAR, a presence 335 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: there that perhaps you weren't covering racing all. Yeah, we 336 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: didn't know anything about racing, right, and now all of 337 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: a sudden, let's be clear, it's a sponsored deal. They're 338 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: pain No, well they are and they aren't. So we 339 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: what started as a sponsorship from NASCAR and Dave Portnoy, 340 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: the founder of Barstool Sports. Dave Portnoy went down to Daytona, 341 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: had never been to a NASCAR race, didn't follow NASCAR race, 342 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 1: didn't follow NASCAR, probably had some of the misperceptions of 343 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: NASCAR fans that are very common for people who don't 344 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: watch NASCAR. We had I think ten personalities down there. 345 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: We did a live show, We set up in the 346 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: fan zone and had an awesome experience. The NASCAR people 347 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 1: could not have been more open, more welcoming. We got 348 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,199 Speaker 1: so much access and we're able to, you know, not 349 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: only engage with the drivers, but the racing teams and 350 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,719 Speaker 1: the track and the you know, the pace car and everything. Uh. 351 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: We had an incredible experience. We carried that through several races, 352 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: and the last two races, which were Talladega and Las Vegas, 353 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: we sponsored a driver. So not out of our sponsorship 354 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: with NASCAR, but from bar Stool Sports, we decided that 355 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: we wanted to sponsor a racer, Matt Di benedetto car 356 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: number five. We branded one is Barstool Sports with all 357 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: of our podcasts, and then that was in Las Vegas, 358 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: and then in Talladega we created a car around one 359 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: Byte pizza we sold merch. Was a very deep, integrated 360 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: partnership with the driving team. NASCAR loves it. The Talladega 361 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: race was the single largest streamed race in history, mostly 362 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: because we streamed it live on nearly We talked about 363 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: watched it streaming live and talked about it on every 364 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: single channel that we have. So it's a good example 365 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: of sports that are looking to bring new audience and 366 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: new eyeballs to that sport are coming to Barstool Sports 367 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: to help them do that because we have such a 368 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: plug into young audiences and our engagement with those audiences 369 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: is off the charts. The second thing you're seeing happening 370 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: with Barstool, which is different than you would find with 371 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: a Turner or Fox or an ESPN, is that we 372 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: are a young, nimble company. So when we get behind 373 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: something we didn't have on a strategy deck that we 374 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: were going to sponsor a race, team literally came up, 375 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: you know, came up. We decided in a week. In 376 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,159 Speaker 1: two weeks, we have the car wrapped, in two and 377 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: a half weeks, we had the merch designed, and three 378 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: weeks later we were on the track. So we tend 379 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,160 Speaker 1: to get behind the things that we find passion around, 380 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 1: whether it's football, whether it's hockey, whether it's golf, whether 381 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: it's entertainment, or whether it's Nascar, uh and we get 382 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 1: behind those things in a big way in a way 383 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 1: that's creative and ultimately in a way that's a creative 384 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: to the experience we're trying to create for our fans. 385 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: So in this case, being able to see you know, 386 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 1: a bar stool car on Fox Racing in a NASCAR 387 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: racer on NBC in the case of Talladega was incredible. 388 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: So we're very three sixty to use a marketing word 389 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,640 Speaker 1: around that, But ultimately it's just very organic whereby when 390 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,400 Speaker 1: we get behind things and find them interesting and compelling, 391 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: our fans tend to follow and we tend to go 392 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: all in. Is that a sign of things to come 393 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: in terms of your relationships with various leagues that you definitely, Yeah, definitely, 394 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: maybe look at we have an incredible partnership with the 395 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:10,919 Speaker 1: U s g A. So we've done You've had a 396 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: similar experience in golf around US Open. Uh We two 397 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:20,479 Speaker 1: years ago Um Dave and a host our our golf 398 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 1: podcast which is called four Play. They went and they 399 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: had a Mulligan challenge, which was Dave's hypothesis was that 400 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: he could win the win the US Open if he 401 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: had unlimited Mulligan's. It was very funny. We captured a 402 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: tremendous amount of content. It sucked all the air out 403 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: of Media Day because what everyone was watching was barstool Sports, 404 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: and if we could be the you know, the Mulligan 405 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: challenge would work or not so? Um, the us G 406 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: has been incredibly open to us same spirit of partnership. 407 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: Right want young audiences, want new audiences. They want to 408 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: quote unquote grow the game. Anyone looking to grow the 409 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,360 Speaker 1: game tends to be open to Barstool Sports to help 410 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: them do that. If there's a recurrent theme though in 411 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: this Converse station, it is that Dave Portnoy is quite 412 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 1: a character. Maybe that's an understatement, and I'm just curious 413 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: you're managing this incredible business. Is it also your job 414 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 1: though to manage him? Does he? Is he someone who 415 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: needs to be like reined in? Watching and I have 416 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: an awesome partnership. So we've met in We hit it 417 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: off immediately. Single best partner I've ever had professionally. I 418 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: think he's brilliant. I think his understanding of content and 419 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,879 Speaker 1: chemistry is just electric. Um. But he does he know 420 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: where the line is? The line? No, I'm not the line. 421 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: He understands the line. And we're very fortunate we've grown 422 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: from twelve people to now people. We had maybe ten 423 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: personalities when I started. We now have almost seventy and 424 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: we have a great system for them knowing the line. 425 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: So we want to find people who you know, have 426 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: a point of view, are fine, me, are captivating, are 427 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: hard working, who understand the Internet. And we have a 428 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: very strong creative culture whereby almost through osmosis, the way 429 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 1: that Dave and Dan Katz and Kevin Clancy and Keith Markovic, 430 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: like the early Barstool guys, are now replicating how they 431 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: thought about content, what their work ethic was around creating content, 432 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 1: and also where the line is around around that content. 433 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 1: Those are all things that we manage within. You know, 434 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 1: in a normal company you called a writer's room. In Barstool, 435 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: we just call it barstool. Okay, Well, here's the two 436 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: part questions about the future of the brand. Number one, 437 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: I'm wondering, you know again, I was talking earlier about 438 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: W W E and Perez Hilton. It seems for some 439 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: brands there's like the bad boy period and then eventually 440 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: they clean up their act because that's what it takes 441 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: the scale to the next level. Is that what you 442 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: guys were about. And part two of this is it's 443 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: called Barstool Sports. But you're right, you know, you're talking 444 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: about pizza and about everything but sports. Yeah, is there 445 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: a future where sports actually isn't so central to what 446 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: bar Stool is. So I'll answer the second part first, 447 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: which is that you know, Dave couldn't get the U 448 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: r L barstool dot Com and called it Barstool Sports. 449 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: And I think we're so much bigger than sports. We 450 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: certainly are sports, and we have guys and girls who 451 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: love sports. We also have people who know nothing about 452 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:36,719 Speaker 1: sports and care about you know, entertainment, military news, you 453 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: name it, lifestyle, food. Um, so I would say we're 454 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: far bigger. You know, a lot of people dropped the 455 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: sports in our name, But I think really what the 456 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: most important thing is when you see or touch any 457 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 1: of our brands, which gets to the first part of 458 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: your question. You know it when you feel it feels 459 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: like Barstool, feels uniquely Barstool. The second piece of what 460 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: makes us very different from a pre as Hilton or 461 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: WW or The Ringer or any other you know, any 462 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: of these brands, is that we have worked incredibly hard 463 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: over the last three years to grow almost sixty brands 464 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,400 Speaker 1: in our portfolio. So when you say Barstool Sports, Barstool 465 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: Sports is a brand in and of itself. It's also 466 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: Viacom right, we're sitting over a port. It's Disney right. 467 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: We're an i P company, whereby we are building hockey brands, 468 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: golf brands, lifestyle brands, entertainment brands, vodka brands, merch brands. 469 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,880 Speaker 1: We have a tremendous amount of i P in this company. 470 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: We grow each of those pieces of i P. We 471 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: do it on different platforms, we do it in different mediums, 472 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: we do it in different ways with different personalities. There's 473 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of crossover in the network, in the network, um, 474 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: but Barstool is bigger than just one monolithic thing. We 475 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: have the Barstool brand, we have every brand that we've 476 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,679 Speaker 1: created in the last three years. And then we have 477 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: incredible personalities who are in and of themselves celebrities and brands. 478 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: And that's what makes this company so different is that 479 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: it's incredibly layered, it's incredibly nuanced, and from a content 480 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: and brand perspective, it's quite diverse. It's not one thing, 481 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: it's not one personality, it's not one point of view. 482 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: We have guys and women who disagree constantly. You know, 483 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,359 Speaker 1: we've got the Yankee fans versus the Red Sox fans. 484 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: We've got one point of view versus another point of view. 485 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: It's a reality show, you know. It's as though you 486 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 1: had Disney or Marvel with a reality show built over 487 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: it and built on the Internet. Well, when you make 488 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: the Disney comparison the Viacom comparison, I wonder, are the 489 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: ambitions to be that big? And is it possible that 490 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: to get that big you need to be acquired by 491 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: the Disney's or Viacoms of the world. Is that the endgame? 492 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: I don't know what you know? Even I always laugh 493 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: about this, which is people say, you know, what's your 494 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: five year plan, what's the seven year plan? And we 495 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: always say, we don't know. Um. And that's not to 496 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:11,719 Speaker 1: say we're not strategic, nor to say that we're not 497 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: thoughtful about where we want to go or what we 498 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: want to do. But what I think we are at 499 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: our core is really passionate and opportunistic. So you know, yes, 500 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: would we like guns money and steal from a big 501 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: media company to be in and around our business. Definitely. 502 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: The things we could do to drive linear the things 503 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: we can do to grow personality, the things we can 504 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: do to create brands. I think is unparalleled. Um. That said, 505 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: you know, we're profitable company now, we're growing incredibly quickly. 506 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: We are at the top of our game in the 507 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: fields that we are in. I also see a path 508 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 1: where we grow independently pretty successfully. So you know, I 509 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:56,479 Speaker 1: think it's a long way of saying we don't know 510 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: what the future holds. We're incredibly open to what that future. 511 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: It's like, Well, that's the last question. Where else are 512 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: you guys going to go that we need to pay 513 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: attention to going into you need to pay attention to 514 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: sports betting. So I think that we will be a 515 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: force in sports betting, in the type of content we create, 516 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,239 Speaker 1: in the way we create it, in the level of 517 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: passion and originality, and in what we do. So sports 518 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: betting is a place you should definitely look out for 519 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: us too. I think you'll see us in more consumer 520 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: products in the same way. We partnered with New Amsterdam 521 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: Vodka to launch Pink Whitneys, which is you know now 522 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: the third biggest flavored vodka in the world, and under 523 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: two months, you'll see us do more of that. Um. 524 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 1: And then I think you'll see us do more in podcasting, 525 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: and there's more to do. There's more to do? Yes, 526 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: more to do? I mean, you know, isn't there though 527 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: a saturation point with the podcast? There's a saturation point 528 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,479 Speaker 1: if your podcasters and your podcasts all appeal to the 529 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: same audience. Right when you look at Barstool Sports, Caller Daddy, 530 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: which is the number one mail podcast in the world, 531 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: has a completely rabid, completely loyal, massive fan base. The 532 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: women and men who listen to call her Daddy probably 533 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: aren't listening to zero Blog thirty, which is our military podcast. 534 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: They may or may not be listening to Pardon My 535 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: Take or Spitting Chicklets or KFC Radio. So as we 536 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: grow new brands. Were very mindful to growing brands that 537 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: can bring new audience and can extend into new spaces 538 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: and who we feel that we can you know, pour 539 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: gasoline on to make bigger. Got it? Well, it sounds 540 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: like you've got a big agenda. We'll be watching and 541 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: seeing how it all plank. You. Thanks for the time. 542 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: I appreciate it. This has been another episode of Strictly Business. 543 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: Tune in next week for another helping a scintillating conversation 544 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: with media movers and shakers, and please make sure you 545 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:55,800 Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast. To hear future episodes. Also leave 546 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: a review in Apple Podcast let us know how we're doing.