College football's Arizona Bowl, contested annually on New Year’s Eve, will now be known as the “Barstool Arizona Bowl,” the result of a multi-year agreement between the NCAA and New York-based media empire Barstool Sports.
“We have found our unicorn,” said founder Dave Portnoy, who announced the news—while sitting atop a literal unicorn—in an “emergency press conference" Tuesday at the University of Arizona’s Tucson campus. “We control everything—the bowl, the broadcast, the halftime show, the national anthem. We are getting into the live sports broadcasting game.”
Barstool Sports, which began as a print publication distributed throughout greater Boston before eventually pivoting to blogging and podcasts, has broadcast live events before including Rough ‘N Rowdy, a popular boxing series with fights (disgraced MLB Jose Canseco was featured in a recent bout) streaming on pay-per-view. Known for its raunchy, unfiltered content and brash, unapologetic takes on both sports and pop culture, Barstool has long been a magnet for controversy. Yet, Barstool’s popularity—particularly among the male and millennial demographics—has never waned, with the company recently adding a betting app and now a college football bowl game to its portfolio. Portnoy has also expressed interest in sponsoring student athletes, who are now able to profit off their name, image and likeness thanks to new NCAA rules that went into effect earlier this month.
“The moon is a little bit closer,” said Portnoy, a prolific pizza reviewer who also dabbles in day trading (he was extremely vocal in his opposition to Robinhood restricting trades during the Gamestop short squeeze in January). “The MAC, the Mountain West, be ready. Bowl games will never be the same.”
San Jose easily defeated Ball State last year in the sixth installment of the Arizona Bowl with CBS holding the game’s broadcast rights.
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