16 Jan 12th–Jan 18th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | supporting victims of sexual assault and to protect our community from the harm that the n-word brings.” Other critics of Barstool had similar sentiments. Northern Illinois University’s student newspaper, Northern Star, asked that Portnoy be removed from bowl game festivities in a November 2021 editorial. “He’s on his last leg,” an accompanying illustration depicting Portnoy falling from a broken stool reads. “Boycott Barstool and the Arizona Bowl!” Steve Kozachik, a Tucson City Council member, was not thrilled with the partner- ship, either. “Yeah, I had issues. The owner is a jerk, and he’s been widely quoted as being racially motivated, sexist, and all that,” Kozachik said in a phone interview with New Times. “Their whole presence here points out the really gross hypocrisy that intercollegiate sports is living in now.” “It’s all about money,” he added. Kozachik said the Barstool partnership was inappropriate on the heels of the #MeToo movement, which is an effort to hold accountable people involved in sexual misconduct. Portnoy, the council member added, only capitalizes on his “frat boy image.” Kozachik was part of the University of Arizona’s athletic department for 32 years, starting as an event coordinator in 1988 to his elevation to associate director of facili- ties before departing in 2021. He said he voiced his concerns to Kym Adair, the executive director of the Arizona Bowl, when he found out about the Barstool partnership, Kozachik said. But Adair defended Barstool. “She feels that the company embraces women in leadership roles, and she was proud to be a part of the bowl,” Kozachik said. “She said she had a daughter and that she wouldn’t have a problem with her daughter working for the company, too.” ‘Dave Has Said Some Silly Things’ Barstool first caught Adair’s eye in spring 2021, when the Arizona Bowl was searching for a new title sponsor, she said in a phone interview with New Times. The NCAA had canceled a women’s golf regional in May 2021 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, due to poor conditions on the course. Barstool Sports decided to host the tournament in Chandler instead. Adair discussed the tournament with Arizona Bowl consultants. “We were on this call, and I said, ‘Oh my God, did you see what Barstool just did for these female athletes?’ That is something that they didn’t have to do, and it was a really great thing for a company to do when so many people don’t pay atten- tion to what’s going on in women’s sports,” she recalled. The Arizona Bowl reached out to Barstool to express interest in a partner- ship. Though Adair had caught wind of the negative press surrounding the company, she didn’t let it deter her after some preliminary talks, she said. “Dave has said some silly things and even to the point of some offensive things in the past, but that’s not who the company is now. Those comments wouldn’t be made today, and they’ve learned from that,” Adair said. “They really saw themselves as a comedy sports website, so sometimes they would say things that didn’t land properly or didn’t stand the test of time. And those things wouldn’t necessarily be repeated again in 2022.” Adair also defended Portnoy against the the sexual assault allegations. “Dave would tell you and has said publicly that those allegations are false, and he’s tried to sue the publications that made them. There’s never been a criminal complaint against Dave or any type of crim- inal justice with those allegations. Those are things that have been said and specu- lated, not things that necessarily have been proved in a court of law,” she said. Adair also talked about the contribu- tions Barstool has pledged to make locally, including donating $1 million to Arizona small businesses affected by the pandemic. In addition to its title sponsorship, Barstool also retained exclusive interna- tional broadcast rights for the Arizona Bowl, which CBS Sports had aired for the last several years, according to Sportico. The 2021 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl was ultimately canceled due to COVID-19, but the company tweeted that it looked forward to “providing a world class bowl experience in 2022.” On December 30, 2022, Ohio University played the University of Wyoming in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl. Three announcers, including Portnoy, called the game to “mixed reviews,” according to Cowboy State Daily, a nonprofit news orga- nization in Wyoming. “That wasn’t a group of frat brothers already half a keg into a tailgate party in the broadcast booth of Friday’s Arizona Bowl,” the story read. “It was Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, and his team presenting this year’s season-capping college football game between the University of Wyoming Cowboys and Ohio University Bobcats.” The Barstool Arizona Instagram account, which is focused on the University of Arizona, has more than 66,000 followers, while Tempe Barstool, featuring footage from Arizona State University, boasts 122,000 followers. The content for both is consistent with Barstool’s reputation. In a September 2022 photo from the Tempe Barstool account, a student holds a sign at an ASU football game that reads, “#7 I slept with your mom.” An October 2022 video posted on the Barstool Arizona account shows a seemingly intoxicated young woman in a nurse costume strug- gling to get off the floor. “Oh my god,” one onlooker comments. “Are you alright?” another asks. The post is captioned “I’m dressed as a nurse it’s fine I got this. DM us your best Halloween costume submissions to be featured.” Betting on Barstool Beside Barstool’s bowl game, its Scottsdale sports bar, and vast social media presence, the company also has a stake in Arizona sports betting. Barstool Sportsbook AZ went live on September 9, 2021, coinciding with the legalization of sports betting in the state. The Arizona sportsbook operates under PENN Entertainment as the exclusive gambling partner at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, according to NASCAR. PENN is the largest regional gaming operator in the U.S., with 44 properties spread across 20 states. Through Barstool, it operates online in 13 of those states, including Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Louisiana, and West Virginia. A January 2021 Bonus story wrote that Barstool Sportsbook “may be the most profitable sportsbook in the industry.” And there is plenty of profit to be made in Arizona. During the state’s first year of sports betting, gamblers wagered more than $5 billion according to the Arizona Department of Gaming. The state became the first to surpass $1 billion in handle, or total number of dollars wagered. It happened in just 82 days. “Phoenix has quietly become a national hub for sports gambling thanks to robust fan culture, unique demographics, smart legislation, and a dash of good luck,” New Times reported in September. It’s that fan culture and unique demo- graphic that the new Scottsdale bar hopes to tap into. Its Instagram account already includes posts of rowdy sports fans, a myriad of alcohol, and bottle girls in sultry attire — staples of any flashy Old Town nightclub. But for the scandal-prone company, the bar marks one more step in Barstool’s expansion throughout Arizona. Barstool from p 15 Jackson Marcotte of the University of Wyoming reacts to a field goal in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl on December 30, 2022 in Tucson. Ohio University beat Wyoming 30-27. Chris Coduto / Getty Images
