Last week a major business deal took place between Barstool Sports, one of newest most recognizable sports media outlets in the country, and Penn National Gaming Inc. Barstool sports founder Dave Portnoy started the company back in 2003 as a gambling news periodical that grew to what it is today, a multifaceted multimillion dollar company. Since the roots of barstool are seeded in gambling the merger doesn’t only make sense from a companies standpoint it also adds a poetic punctuation mark to a past filled with barstool sports doubters.
Penn National reported that the deal was for a 36% stake in Barstool and in exchange Barstool got a massive check cut their way. Barstool sports received 135 million in cash and 28 million in nonvoting convertible preferred Penn National stock. Penn National also gets exclusive rights to use the Barstool brand in its gaming venues and products. After it was all said and done Barstool Sports value soared to 450 million dollars.
More than 17 billion dollars has been wagered since the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalized sports gambling netting 1.2 billion in revenue for sports books. When asked about the two companies business together Penn National Chief Executive Jay Snowden said that their companies brick and mortar casino’s older demographic will complement Barstools younger following. The name of the game for these gambling companies is retaining customers and by adding Barstool Sports loyal fan base to Penn National gaming a steady stream of gamblers will always be at their fingertips.
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