Is Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy the Modern Day Howard Stern?
Last week I received a year subscription to Sirius XM. I had been a Howard Stern fan for a good portion of the 90’s and 2000’s. Not to take out the tape measure, but I was such a fan that I spent a thousand dollars for Beetlejuice to show up at my apartment on Saint Patrick’s Day (he showed up in a Coors Light t-shirt and a weight lifting belt).
So, for the first time in years I was able to tune into channels 100 and 101 and begin reintroducing myself to The Howard Stern Show. I stopped listening about 6 years ago when I got sick of hearing about the beautiful Beth, the North Shore Animal League, and all of the fake drama around Howard’s job at America’s Got Talent.
Before this article turns into a post about why I don’t like The Howard Stern Show anymore, getting back to the point, six years ago I started listening to new things. As I got into podcasts, I started to warm up to the Barstool Sports brand though their daily recap show called The Rundown (or as Richard Deitsch called it: The Roundup). Admittedly, I was not originally a fan of Barstool though I never really had a reason outside of Brady-gate. Also, it took me a while to understand and appreciate the Dave “Pageviews” Portnoy WWE heel-like character.
While I am not exactly a consistent reader of the blog itself, what I really like are the podcasts: Pardon My Take, The Rundown, KFC Radio, Mail Time, and The Dave Portnoy Show. Additionally, pretty much the entire staff are must-follows on Twitter. They are all consistently funny, always on, are masters at self-depreciation, and none of them are too big for their britches (outside of Pageviews).
Since being purchased by The Chernin Group, Portnoy has been stating openly that he compares Barstool to Saturday Night Live. He wants talent to want to come to Barstool the way that young comedians yearn to be on SNL. I get the thought, but in reality he is more Howard Stern than Lorne Michaels. What Stern excelled at was making you care about the every day minutia of his and his staff’s life. Some say Howard invented reality TV. While I wouldn’t go that far, he made us care about Gary’s dental implants, Richard Christie’s parents going to Taco Tiko (not to be confused with Tico Texas,) and Jackie drying his water logged jokes on a clothesline. I think this is the accidental blueprint for how Barstool was built. They have found a way to make readers/listeners care about the mundane…just like Howard.
Still not convinced? Let’s break it down further.
The Staff
Howard was great at finding, hiring and promoting likeable staff members like Fred, Richard Christie, JD and K.C. Armstrong. What Portnoy and Barstool has going for it is their talent is likeable AND talented. It is not hard to imagine a world where Dan “Big Cat” Katz & PFT Commenter get their own nationally syndicated radio show. If I was an executive at WFAN and started my list of potential out of the box replacements for Francesa – I would consider someone like Kevin “KFC” Clancy. The blog also boasts talent like K-Marko and Feitelberg who would immediately be the most talented and viral writers at heavy trafficked (but painfully vanilla) sites like SB Nation and Bleacher Report.
What this says to me is that Portnoy, to his credit, has an eye for talent – whereas Stern has more of an eye for content. I just don’t see a world where JD Harmeyer is gainfully employed as a segment producer for Kelly Ripa, and Sal Governale is not getting a job as a comedy writer on a NBC Sitcom.
The Wack Pack
The Howard Stern Show & Barstool Sports embrace and welcome the weird in a genuine manner. Stern has Crackhead Bob (#RIP) while Portnoy has Rico Bosco. Howard propped up Tiny Tim for years while Barstool discovered Stingray Steve. While outside observers accuse both of mocking these types, in reality they make their audiences love the weird. Look beyond the obviously jokes and you will find staff and fan fondness for characters like Riley Martin and Blind Mike.
Fandom
For every Baba Booey shouted out at a PGA event, there is a Barstool Logo popping up on College Gameday. Howard once organized public funerals for rival DJ’s, while Portnoy hosted the Blackout Tour. Feitelberg’s #SaturdaysAreForTheBoys movement has come out of nowhere to trend on Twitter for a month and create lay-up content embraced by major professional sports teams.
Celebrity Connections
After starting his career as the nerdy outcast, Howard was able to cultivate relationships with A-list celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel, Jennifer Aniston, and Robert Downey Jr. Meanwhile, Barstool has become popular with professional athletes like Keegan Bradley (The People’s Champion II), Blake Griffin, and the entire Blackhawks & Cubs organizations.
Cultural Milestones
When I think of 9/11 I remember how the Howard Stern Show kept broadcasting through the attacks. It was there where I first heard the name Osama Bin Laden and it is eerie to go back and listen to the show now (oddly – right before the first plane hit Stuttering John was perpetuating the myth that he had a chance with Pam Anderson).
Bartstool? They took a front seat in helping to pull the city together after the Boston Marathon Bombing by providing live updates when the city was on lock down. Through #BostonStrong t-shirt sales, they bought a house for one bombing victim – #NoBigDeal. They were also one of the early supporters of The Ice Bucket Challenge and they remain close to the Frates family to this day (long after your aunt dumped a lukewarm glass of water on her head and challenged your cousin Michelle and Tom Brady).
Rivalries?
Stern was legendary for his rivalries – from Opie & Anthony to Jay Leno. Nothing was funnier than an angry and vindictive Howie. He wouldn’t rest until his opponents were squashed and buried in the ground. He never forgave and held grudges a mile long. Does this sound familiar to Stoolies? Portnoy (sometimes to the chagrin of the staff) foams at the mouth every time he hears someone mention fellow Bostonian Bill Simmons. When HBO paid Barstool to run banner ads on the blog – Portnoy took their money while openly mocking Simmons and the show. Additionally, he hates any success from other blogs, wishes nothing but failure for ESPN, and created a human chain at the NFL headquarters with the hopes of confronting Roger Goodell about Deflategate.
The Brady Four arrested at NFL Headquarters
So what does the future hold for Barstool? Will it suffer the same fate that the Howard Stern brand has experienced? The next few years are going to be interesting for Barstool. As they move into their New York offices it makes one wonder if the Pirate Ship magic will still be there when they are face-to-face versus doing everything via Skype. The one area I would think twice about is their desire to bring the Run Down to television. Not everyone is made out for TV. Bill Simmons is (as I half-predicted) failing and already getting the vague vote of confidence from HBO.
It is probably in new CEO Erika Nardini’s best interest to sit back let the madness unfold. Though there is an uneasy feeling with many fans that the Chernin Deal/Nardini hiring might be the Barstool death nail. Could Nardini be Portnoy’s Marci Turk? Who knows, I am am just shocked I resisted the urge to write this blog post without making a single comparison between Artie and Big Cat.