MLB’s possible partnership with Barstool Sports is bringing the blue checkmarks back to their respective corners, ready to revive one of the most tired and circuitous media debates of the 21st century: Should sports leagues and other businesses align themselves with the notorious, yet overwhelmingly popular sports-and-smut website?
Elite-level journalists (or those aspiring to reach their positions of grandeur), say absolutely not. They point to the website’s history of misogynistic and offensive content, as well as Dave Portnoy’s penchant for encouraging online harassment campaigns against the site’s detractors, many of whom are female sportswriters.
In response, the Barstool bros counter with a digital tsunami of their own tweets, which often include the predictable attacks on “woke culture,” or whatever it’s being called these days.
While these arguments are scintillating for the Twitter class, they miss the mark about why sports leagues find Barstool so appealing.
It’s all about reach and demographics.
MLB’s crisis when it comes to attracting young fans is well-known: the average viewer is 57 years old; seemingly every World Series breaks records for setting new ratings lows. More than half of Americans belonging to Generation Z say they aren’t fans of baseball, compared to just 38 percent of “Baby Boomers.”
A broadcasting agreement with Barstool would get the game in front of younger eyeballs, and just as importantly, increase its cultural cache among those who didn’t live the majority of their lives in a pre-cell phone world.
MLB and Barstool are undergoing “significant negotiations” to air national midweek games on the site’s platforms, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand. They may also team up to create a new kind of broadcast focused on in-game gambling.
Barstool is owned by Penn National, a casino and racetrack-operator. Penn National bought Barstool for $450 million.
Barstool’s popularity among young people is undeniable. A whopping 67% of daily Barstool users are under the age of 30, and 15% of all college-aged kids say they visit the site every day. Overall, 27% of Gen Z Americans say they visit Barstool at least once per month.
Portnoy says Barstool attracts 66 million monthly inquire visitors on its site.
On top of that, Barstool boasts one of the most formidable sports podcast platforms out there. “Pardon My Take” remains the most-downloaded spots podcast in the U.S. (“Call Her Daddy,” which featured two 20-something women banter about relationships and sexual conquests, became a cult sensation. Spotify signed one of its hosts, Alex Cooper, to a deal worth $60 million.)
With that said, Barstool is firmly part of the mainstream media ecosystem. I mean, Portnoy was granted a White House interview with Donald Trump at the height of last year’s president election. Nothing explains the website’s ascent more than that anecdote.
It also encapsulates why Barstool is so controversial. Portnoy, who infamously railed against coronavirus restrictions and is now a regular on Tucker Carlson, is affiliated with Trump.
But is the brand? The numbers say that Barstool’s audience of frat boys in Patagonia unsurprisingly skews right. About 37% of Barstool fans identify as Republican, whereas 31% identify as Democrat. Meanwhile, 40% of Barstool haters say they’re Democrats.
Those figures don’t paint the full picture, however. Portnoy’s softball interview with Trump sparked a backlash within the company, with Kevin Clancy, one-half of “Pardon My Take,” publicly airing his grievances about the stunt. “I think it’s the end of Barstool Sports as we know it,” he said on Barstool Radio.
And when it comes to Covid, the Barstool Fund has raised more than $40 million to help small businesses survive the pandemic. That’s an admirable feat, regardless of which side of the political aisle you occupy.
Also, there is this unsettling fact for left-leaning bloggers like yours truly: Republicans like sports, too (said with love)!
There is a case to be made that MLB partnering with Barstool would alienate some of the fastest-growing groups watching baseball. Last year, for example, MLB’s TV audience increased 83% among young women.
Any league or corporation teaming up with Barstool also has to brace itself for the agreement ending in PR flames. ESPN severed its deal with Barstool after just one episode of “Van Talk,” due to backlash from female employees.
But MLB may decide the optics and risks are worth the potential gain in audience. Jared Carrabis, Barstool’s signature baseball personality, is one of the game’s most fervent and successful online promoters. His nightly viral clips demonstrate Barstool’s reach.
MLB officials are probably fantasizing what it could mean to have the whole company behind it. As we know, business interests often overrule moral qualms.
That’s the issue at play here. History tells us how this will probably play out.
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The vax dilemma: To ask, or not to ask? That’s the dilemma NFL reporters are facing this summer, as the country grips with a lagging vaccination effort amidst the Delta surge.
Under normal circumstances, most football writers would probably stay away from such a politically polarizing topic. But the NFL has instituted rules that put unvaccinated players at competitive disadvantages. The league also says teams with Covid outbreaks among unvaccinated players will have to forfeit any cancelled games if a makeup date can’t be established.
Those severe mandates have propelled more than 90% of NFL players to get vaccinated. But that means about 10% of players are unvaccinated, which equals out to about 5.6 per team.
Last week, the Globe’s Ben Volin asked Cam Newton about his vaccination status, prompting the former MVP to say the matter was too personal to discuss. Mac Jones was also asked the question, and demurred.
But there is one notable difference between the two: Newton wears a mask on his way to the practice field. Jones does not. (Unvaccinated players are required to wear masks.)
Ultimately, we can’t confirm any players’ vaccination status unless they tell us. But the NFL has turned this into a football matter. As a result, it’s OK to guess.
Bruschi at Pats practice: Patriots Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi has been a regular at Patriots training camp this month, intently watching defensive drills and coaching up players. And his ESPN bosses are probably pleased.
Ex-players turned pundits enjoy the benefits of flouting conventional journalism rules, which frankly, don’t apply as much as they used to. Bruschi won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and spent his entire career in Foxboro. He’s synonymous with this team, and hired for his insights into the most successful NFL franchise of the century. Frequent trips to practice allow Bruschi to receive unfettered access to this year’s Patriots club, and face time with Bill Belichick.
It will make his insights into the Patriots stronger. That’s all that matters.
Preseason ratings battle: The Patriots opening up their preseason slate will provide a snapshot into where the Red Sox currently stand in the Boston sports hierarchy. This week, the Red Sox will avoid the battle, as their series finale against the Rays will start at 4:10 p.m. But we’ll still be able to compare average Red Sox ratings to the Patriots’ three preseason telecasts.
Are Boston sports fans more enamored with a pennant race, or QB battle? Soon, we’ll find out.