Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy blames a loud minority at ESPN for the cancellation of "Barstool Van Talk" after just one episode. According to Portnoy, the vast majority of employees at the network support Barstool and enjoy its content.
In an interview Tuesday with "Kirk & Callahan," Portnoy said many female ESPN employees even reached out to decry Sam Ponder, who vociferously campaigned against the show on Twitter last week. In a rant three years ago, Portnoy told her to "slut it up."
"I would guess 95 percent of ESPN (supports us)," he said. "(Scott) Van Pelt has been a fan before Dan (Katz) and PFT (Commenter) were there. (Todd) McShay worked there, and we were at each other's weddings. I've hung out with (Ryen) Russillo a lot. We had a lot of other female talents who I didn't know who reached out to me slamming Ponder –– DMing me on Twitter and saying 'Ponder is the worst.' I don't think she's well liked."
ESPN president John Skipper announced Monday he was canceling the program hosted by Dan "Big Cat" Katz and PFT Commenter, because he "erred" in believing ESPN could separate itself from the Barstool brand. Portnoy thinks Skipper's decision to walk away was based almost solely in internal pressure.
"Some of the girls were threatening maybe to walk out. I heard whispers of that," Portnoy said. "But there's nothing that happened on Barstool's end. They almost pulled the show the first time. An hour before it aired, it was off. They were going to cancel it. Then they put it back on. I was surprised when I heard it was cancelled yesterday, but not really, because they've got all sorts of issues going on over there. It didn't shock me."
The ratings for "Barstool Van Talk's" debut episode were impressive. The show drew 88,000 viewers in its 1:00 a.m. time slot, and finished No. 2 in viewers between the ages 18-34. With that success in mind, the possibility remains that ESPN may approach Barstool about another partnership down the road. Portnoy says he would be open to that, despite the abrupt cancellation.
"I don't think I'd totally write them off," he said. "If the check was big enough and the right assurances were made, I wouldn't write them off. Again, as much as I think John Skipper made an error in the fact he knew all of this beforehand and crazy to be –– like you said –– 'we didn't anticipate we'd be associated with Barstool this much' when the name of the show had Barstool and our logo all over it. They wanted the show. I'm sure Barstool was never ESPN's first choice to go into bed with. But they need our show and need our demo. If it was up to him, i'm sure they would've kept it without Sam Ponder creating an internal rebellion."
