Rethinking Barstool?

Helmet Head

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I know I shouldn’t be surprised how stupid the NFL is after how they conducted themselves over the years but they continue to amaze me. All they have to do is give them access (specifically to media night of the Super Bowl, which everyone has access to) and this is a complete non story within 5 minutes. If Barstool fucks up and does something stupid after that, they are the ones that will suffer and look like idiots. Instead, they are giving barstool exactly what they want. Free content without doing anything. How do they not realize this? How far up does the stupid go? Does this come directly from Goodell.
 

Haunted

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I'm sure they'd be perfectly accepting if someone else relabeled parts of their podcast without attribution and profited off of it.
 

JCizzle

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I'm sure they'd be perfectly accepting if someone else relabeled parts of their podcast without attribution and profited off of it.
Ding ding ding. You can't be thin skinned about content theft and then blow up when you get caught doing it yourself. Portnoy was just complaining about people making Stern clown shirts the other day.
 

nattysez

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They are idiots and will get away with it for the reasons Haunted just stated.

 

Cellar-Door

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Mark Marin should be really worried about getting his license suspended in New Jersey, it sure looks like he out and out lied on the DCMA letter under penalty of perjury, and I'd guess he's done it before.
 

luckiestman

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its all good to laugh at Barstool but if twitter users cant share content they dont own on twitter, that is going to hurt twitter and of course this goes against the tenets of meme culture
 

Cellar-Door

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its all good to laugh at Barstool but if twitter users cant share content they dont own on twitter, that is going to hurt twitter and of course this goes against the tenets of meme culture
I'm curious what you mean here.

Not being able to take other people's copyrighted materials and pass it off as your own is very different from "sharing" content through a re-tweet or a link.
Memes are generally not something that would fall under the category of a copyright violation for a number of reasons, revolving around fair use, changes, etc.
Additionally, the difference between private and commercial use also comes into play here pretty heavily.
 

NickEsasky

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See the Tweet from Portnoy above. It got flagged for copyright issues when all it was was the Ric Flair Woooo gif that you could find and include in a tweet in 2 seconds..
 

Cellar-Door

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See the Tweet from Portnoy above. It got flagged for copyright issues when all it was was the Ric Flair Woooo gif that you could find and include in a tweet in 2 seconds..
That's Twitter having a shitty automated process for DMCA violation reports, not a real DMCA issue, someone probably spammed the report button so twitter auto pulled it. Very different situation from legitimate copyright issues which are the real point of the Barstool issue.
 

kenneycb

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So would the better move be to succumb to DCMA or work within their confines? Whatever they did you’re going to mock in a way you see fit because Barstool.
 

nattysez

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So would the better move be to succumb to DCMA or work within their confines? Whatever they did you’re going to mock in a way you see fit because Barstool.
Perhaps they could not use others' content, and when they do use others' content for proper purposes, claim that theirs is a fair use rather than lying that they own the work/believed they had permission to use it? Because that's what any competent IP attorney would have them do.
 

kenneycb

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Of course. But given time travel is not possible to undo old posts, what is your more reasonable solution to limit their liability?
 

nattysez

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Of course. But given time travel is not possible to undo old posts, what is your more reasonable solution to limit their liability?
The fact is that they, like fuckjerry, fatjewish and other internet scum, have tried to build a popular social media following by stealing others' content. So I'd say that it's fair game to make fun of them for (1) stealing others' content, (2) being douchebags about it, (3) having terrible attorneys, and (4) trying to "fix" the problem by deleting 60,000 tweets.

In other news, Norman Chad did something I haven't seen before: equated BSG wth Barstool:

Portnoy is the latest in a long line of New England sports folk to morph into multimedia. They used to be kinder and gentler, like Bud Collins, Lesley Visser, Bob Ryan, Peter Gammons and Jackie MacMullan. But these young guns nowadays — actually, they’re not that young; the Boston sports guy is pushing 50 and Portnoy is almost 42 — are megalomaniacal knuckle-draggers.
I wonder if BSG (when he was BSG) dragged Chad in one of his media columns -- hard to imagine how else you'd equate BSG with Barstool.

Edit -- looks like Chad was on the BS report 10 years ago, so their issue must been more recent.
 

Myt1

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Also, Bob Ryan got suspended for saying that he wanted to smack the wife of a basketball player.
 

TFP

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Big Cat's gonna be a dad. Legitimately happy for him, and good for him keeping his private life this private while becoming so popular. Can't wait for his kid to stumble across "Drink Paint" when he's a teenager though.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/some-personal-news-im-going-to-be-a-dad-this-summer-on-purpose

He's talked in multiple podcasts lately (when pushed by guests) about having a lot of equity in Barstool that will amount to millions of dollars if they ever get sold/liquidated. He ain't going anywhere until that converts to cash and maybe not even then.
 

Koji’s Slider

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Big Cat's gonna be a dad. Legitimately happy for him, and good for him keeping his private life this private while becoming so popular. Can't wait for his kid to stumble across "Drink Paint" when he's a teenager though.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/some-personal-news-im-going-to-be-a-dad-this-summer-on-purpose

He's talked in multiple podcasts lately (when pushed by guests) about having a lot of equity in Barstool that will amount to millions of dollars if they ever get sold/liquidated. He ain't going anywhere until that converts to cash and maybe not even then.
Big and and Dave are the stars, once they leave/bought out, Barstool is pretty close to being over. I still say Big Cat has a 30-40 years in sports media ahead of him.
 

CantKeepmedown

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Big Cat's gonna be a dad. Legitimately happy for him, and good for him keeping his private life this private while becoming so popular. Can't wait for his kid to stumble across "Drink Paint" when he's a teenager though.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/some-personal-news-im-going-to-be-a-dad-this-summer-on-purpose

He's talked in multiple podcasts lately (when pushed by guests) about having a lot of equity in Barstool that will amount to millions of dollars if they ever get sold/liquidated. He ain't going anywhere until that converts to cash and maybe not even then.
Interesting to see how he and KFC go about things with their personal lives/families. I didn't even know Dan had a GF, let alone a serious one/wife and a child on the way. Great news. He seems like a great person that is well liked by just about everyone.
KFC, on the other hand, parades his children all across the internet. As Dan said, it's a personal choice for all. But I feel like opening yourself up the way KFC does can only lead to negative stuff. Certainly his marital issues didn't help at all. Those poor kids are going to have access to Twitter/internet one of these days. Ugh.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Big Cat's gonna be a dad. Legitimately happy for him, and good for him keeping his private life this private while becoming so popular. Can't wait for his kid to stumble across "Drink Paint" when he's a teenager though.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/some-personal-news-im-going-to-be-a-dad-this-summer-on-purpose

He's talked in multiple podcasts lately (when pushed by guests) about having a lot of equity in Barstool that will amount to millions of dollars if they ever get sold/liquidated. He ain't going anywhere until that converts to cash and maybe not even then.
That assumes the company maintains its value and someone buys them.

Getting liquidated doesn't sound like a "money in the pocket" type scenario to me.
 

InstaFace

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That assumes the company maintains its value and someone buys them.

Getting liquidated doesn't sound like a "money in the pocket" type scenario to me.
They already made a deal with the devil taking PE financing from a media PE fund. You get in bed with one of those, you can bet on aggressive revenue growth targets (already being managed) with a view towards an exit in 5-7 years. That's the typical holding period for the place they're in, and they're already 2.5 years in. There ain't no way they're going public, so they're probably getting sold (or dismembered and sold, except I'm not sure how you spin out parts of Barstool).

So they've got a 3-5 year window to make themselves palatable to other media companies. Their demographics, engagement metrics and various other measurables are doing well. So their task is mostly to get past the ick factor, and they have plenty of time to do so gracefully and give an acquirer plenty of room to rationalize it away. Shutting off comments when he did gives Portnoy the ability to say, when that day comes, "well, yeah it was bad back then, but we haven't been all about the comments for a while, our community is based around activities X Y and Z these days". And yeah, an honest statement like that would have X being facilitating sexual assault through keg stands on a tour through college spring breaks, but he'll have plenty of more-savory options to choose from too.
 

nattysez

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They already made a deal with the devil taking PE financing from a media PE fund. You get in bed with one of those, you can bet on aggressive revenue growth targets (already being managed) with a view towards an exit in 5-7 years. That's the typical holding period for the place they're in, and they're already 2.5 years in. There ain't no way they're going public, so they're probably getting sold (or dismembered and sold, except I'm not sure how you spin out parts of Barstool).

So they've got a 3-5 year window to make themselves palatable to other media companies. Their demographics, engagement metrics and various other measurables are doing well. So their task is mostly to get past the ick factor, and they have plenty of time to do so gracefully and give an acquirer plenty of room to rationalize it away. Shutting off comments when he did gives Portnoy the ability to say, when that day comes, "well, yeah it was bad back then, but we haven't been all about the comments for a while, our community is based around activities X Y and Z these days". And yeah, an honest statement like that would have X being facilitating sexual assault through keg stands on a tour through college spring breaks, but he'll have plenty of more-savory options to choose from too.
FWIW, they turned comments back on 4 days after they turned them off. Their engagement numbers must have plummeted when they turned them off (or turning them back on was the plan all along).

They strike me as the perfect acquisition target for something like Mindgeek or a similar entity that wants some "softcore" assets to go along with its main business and sees some cross-promotional opportunities there.
 

InstaFace

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So Insta, you agree with me that there is a chance of a nice cash out. But if they don't get past the ick and pick up enough revenue for the owners a dumping without ceremony is also possible
Sure, every business crashing is possible. But unless their core financials tank, somebody is going to find it an attractive asset, qualitative stuff be damned.

Point is, Big Cat is totally justified in feeling like he's sitting on a goldmine right now and just has to wait for his ship to come in.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Well, Insta, lots of us have been sitting on big piles of equity and then management makes a bad decision and suddenly you are sitting on shit.

With Portnoy at the helm you gotta think those odds are pretty high.
 

Rusty13

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Interesting to see how he and KFC go about things with their personal lives/families. I didn't even know Dan had a GF, let alone a serious one/wife and a child on the way. Great news. He seems like a great person that is well liked by just about everyone.
KFC, on the other hand, parades his children all across the internet. As Dan said, it's a personal choice for all. But I feel like opening yourself up the way KFC does can only lead to negative stuff. Certainly his marital issues didn't help at all. Those poor kids are going to have access to Twitter/internet one of these days. Ugh.
It seems like KFC REALLY picked up the social media posting of his kids once the affair came to light last year. He's pretty much a fraud.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Sure, every business crashing is possible. But unless their core financials tank, somebody is going to find it an attractive asset, qualitative stuff be damned.

Point is, Big Cat is totally justified in feeling like he's sitting on a goldmine right now and just has to wait for his ship to come in.
And if he and PFT want to go elsewhere, their new employer will compensate them handsomely for their giving up their equity upside.

I will be shocked if Big Cat, in particular, doesn't have a long career in media. He is very good in both the "new media/demographic" sense as well as a traditional talking head. PFT is a wildcard but he is sharp enough that he should be able to build on his success to date.

Setting aside the horrible Portnoy/Stoolie culture aspect, both of these guys have essentially formed the cutting edge of how sports entertainment works in a new media environment and with younger (than Boomer and Gen X) audiences.
 

InstaFace

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Well, Insta, lots of us have been sitting on big piles of equity and then management makes a bad decision and suddenly you are sitting on shit.

With Portnoy at the helm you gotta think those odds are pretty high.
I'm sorry about Theranos, man. Everybody makes some bad calls, nobody bats 1.000.
 

nattysez

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Setting aside the horrible Portnoy/Stoolie culture aspect, both of these guys have essentially formed the cutting edge of how sports entertainment works in a new media environment and with younger (than Boomer and Gen X) audiences.
I mostly agree, though I think The Ringer's right up there, too.
 

kenneycb

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BIg Cat has been an employee of ARod Corp for like 5 years now. And they released a podcast series about this 6 or so months ago, so they’re “renewed” for season 2.
 

BoSox Rule

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I think it’s even better than that unless this is just a running joke: Big Cat basically willed himself into working for A-Rod Corp by tweeting at A-Rod when people had no idea what the Corp even was. A-Rod would be posting pictures of himself in a dark office signing baseballs and eventually A-Rods team convinced him that engaging with Big Cat would be good for the brand, and Big Cat always said his resolution was “this year is the year I collect a paycheck from A-Rod Corp.
 

TFP

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It's my favorite thing on the internet by a long long shot. It was funny when Big Cat started it but got exponentially funnier when A-Rod started playing along and got the joke.


And they're recording Season 2 of The Corp podcast with Howard Schultz.
 

CantKeepmedown

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It's definitely one of the things that has made A-Rod much more likable since he retired. He's definitely in on the joke and seems to have a lot of fun with it. Loved when he suspended Big Cat last year for missing the employee meeting.
 

jcd0805

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Anyone else starting to find PMT a little stale? I realized during the pod today I haven’t lol’d during one of their pods in awhile and that bums me out :(
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Anyone else starting to find PMT a little stale? I realized during the pod today I haven’t lol’d during one of their pods in awhile and that bums me out :(
I agree that they aren't as funny or irreverent however I think its a feature vs a bug. Their success has forced them to be a bit more straight down the middle, especially with many of their newer guests.

That said, their recent interviews with OAR and the Jersey Shore guys were pretty informative/entertaining. But also lot more mainstream in terms of tone.