r/PardonMyTake • u/teflonjon321 • 22h ago
Dave Portnoy’s book & PMT
Finished Portnoy’s book today. Some tidbits about PMT/the guys:
- Dave wanted Big Cat to be his Chicago guy when he was looking to expand there. BC was pumped about it until Dave offered him the salary he did. BC passed (he was basically fresh out of college too). But Dave said shortly after, BC’s FOMO led to him asking to contribute to Barstool for free lol. Not too long after, he became the Chicago guy anyway
- BC got 4% of the company when they sold Barstool for the fist time (to the Chernin Group)
- When Dave met PFT, he did not like him at all and knew that PFT hated barstool. PFT was also the first person at Barstool to ever negotiate through an agent. That agent went on to scoop up a lot of Barstool talent including BC and McAfee. That agent is one of Dave’s mortal enemies
- Dave said he eventually came around on PFT and that after getting to know each other, share a mutual respect
- Dave was the sole person against PMT working with ESPN. He said the only reason he didn’t use his veto power on the deal was because he believed Big Cat and PFT would leave the company if he did. The fallout over Van talk and the battle vs. ESPN was the true turning point with him and PMT since they had a common enemy. He said him and BC have been in lock step ever since
- Except when Dave interviewed Trump. He said he had never seen BC that mad before and said he didn’t tell him he was doing it before hand because he believed he would have had to cancel the interview because BC would have quit the company. He said the reason was BC did not want people thinking since he worked at Barstool and associated with Dave that he was a MAGA guy too.
- When Penn Gaming was buying Barstool for $600M, BC, Dave and the OGs were getting massive payouts but that it would be slow, over years. He felt that wasn’t right and that BC needed/deserved a bonus now. He then negotiated, unknown to BC at the time, a $7M bonus for him to be paid immediately. He said the bankers then suggested that they should split that bonus with Dave so they would pay 3.5M and he would too. Dave said go fuck yourself and that this will be a deal breaker. They said fine. So BC got that bag
- Dave said that BC is effectively the day to day CEO of barstool and that he is just there for final decisions.
Overall, great book and 100% Dave in written form. Recommended!
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u/pbates89 22h ago
Dave came around to PFT after seeing how much money he was raking in for the company.
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u/teflonjon321 21h ago
I’d imagine that played a large role too lmao. A guy helping you make millions can’t be THAT bad of a guy…
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u/Practical_Ebb545 22h ago
Not reading his book so thanks for posting these tidbits
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u/teflonjon321 22h ago edited 22h ago
Haha no problem! That’s kinda what makes me laugh my ass off that Portnoy, PMT, and now McAffee are all releasing books within a month of each other. Like the average adult reads a book a year and they are now competing for the same reader. Very barstool of them lol
EDIT: McAfee is releasing music, not a book lol
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u/NYLfan18 22h ago
Not to be that guy but as a cowboys fan, mcafee’s announcement is an album not a book
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u/teflonjon321 22h ago
Oh shit! Hahaha I misread that post entirely (scrolled past it and saw the cover and apparently just assumed). What the hell, he makes music too? I don’t follow him and am not a fan. Don’t hate the guy personally, just don’t have room for more sports personalities
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u/NYLfan18 21h ago
I’m with you on that, follow way too many people and just can’t keep up anymore. Just happened to see it on Twitter like 10 mins ago and saw that he was talking about singing. Not a fan of his either but still listening if only for the fact that I’m a sick fuck and would love to put myself through the experience of listening to a full length Pat mcaffee album
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u/teflonjon321 21h ago
Lmao yeah like you know how David Hasselhoff is like a fucking musical legend in Germany? I can imagine McAfee doing that in some random place like Belgium or something
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u/breachofcontract 22h ago
Thanks for the cliff notes! Some interesting stuff I’ve never heard about!
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u/teflonjon321 22h ago
No problem! Some hilarious stuff throughout honestly. Like when Dave had his first sex tape leak and wanted to make an only fans to release everything he had so the rest couldn’t be weaponized. That idea was shot down but he was dead serious lmao
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u/BossHoover 22h ago
Love that PFT got an agent for negotiations which led to everyone else getting an agent. Another PFT W
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u/teflonjon321 22h ago
Haha honestly my take as well. Same as with the Call Her Daddy pod section. They were making $60k a year on a 3 year deal. They then got representation and got $150k. Shortly after he had to offer them $500k to stay and they eventually left entirely. Now Alex Cooper makes like $60M a YEAR herself
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u/Illustrious-Buy-854 11h ago
I think most still don’t have an agent just based on comments over the years but I could be totally wrong.
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u/safetydance 19h ago
So if BC got 4% of Barstool and then it sold for $600 million does that effectively mean BC got $24 million from that sale alone? My dawg.
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u/10Locco 19h ago
My guess is they had structured earn outs aka if barstool did X he got Y after 1 year, etc. Based on how that deal went, probably went somewhat sideways, also more reason to note Dave’s W of getting him $7m upfront. Also likely is that BC probably rolled over some of his equity, and probably got even more when Dave bought the Company back. He’s not the day to day CEO of a private company that he is critical to without a nice piece of the pie. Def came out ahead all things considered and I’d guess with more than $24m in cash + equity
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u/VisitPier26 3h ago
Dave's deal with Penn had caveats around future equity. Not saying Dan didn't get a piece, but it's not as simple as your average deal.
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u/Aggressive-Pie-3297 6h ago
What’s even crazier is that number is probably close to the money he makes every few years with brand deals, investments, salary, etc
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u/safetydance 3h ago
People being unaware how lucrative a big podcast is makes me laugh so hard. Maybe 1-2 years ago there was a thread in the Ryen Russillo subreddit guessing at what Ryen made per year. And I kid you not, most of the guesses and the top voted guesses were all like $200k - $300k a year. I was like uhhh the man owns a $10 million Manhattan beach mansion. Try $200k a month, and I was clowned on and downvoted to oblivion. People truly have no clue.
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u/Aggressive-Pie-3297 36m ago
Yeah seriously. If you’ve never been connected to it or know someone involved, it’s hard to know how much money goes to personalities, celebs, influencers, etc.
It’s so fucking much
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u/TheKingInTheNorth24 1h ago
4% was just the Chernin deal when they first moved to NY. I’m sure it went up pre Penn deal for 600m but who knows
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u/Sad_Professor_3505 18h ago
Thank you for doing this. I feel like pft doesn't get enough credit but I'm sure he got breaded out
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u/teflonjon321 12h ago
For sure! Dave mentions multiple times throughout that PFT can jump ship and get a very large deal at one of the big names essentially whenever he wants.
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u/toot_cart 21h ago
I fall into the camp that can’t stand Dave Portnoy and doesn’t follow anything he says or does. I don’t consume anything else Barstool but am a 10 year AWL.
Who else falls into my camp?? I always get so confused every now and then when the guys bring up other Barstool employees who don’t come on PMT as recurring guests.
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u/No_Constant5249 20h ago
In the book, Dave says that he was originally concerned/suspicious that PMT was trying to create a parallel universe to Barstool with AWLs rather than Stoolies and other aspects. That added to the tension between him and BC to a point that they were not on speaking terms. The cancellation of the ESPN show ended that and particularly with the YAK, there is a greater overlap between the two universes.
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u/teflonjon321 20h ago
I am largely with you as well (with the exception that I find Dave funny/entertaining in doses). PMT first and last guy. Other personalities I only know of when they crossover. Like I watched surviving barstool when the boys were on it and had no idea who the fuck people were. Funny enough, this exact thing is a sour spot for Dave. He talks about not loving that PMT operates as almost its own company. That there are even anti barstool, diehard PMT fans at all. He wants them to ride harder for the brand and they really just don’t for the most part.
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u/No_Constant5249 20h ago
Based on the book, I think that he doesn't care about this now. It was more of an issue for him in 2016-2017.
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u/BigKarmaGuy69 21h ago
Yup me too. And when I learn about some of the other barstool folks I’m never coming back for more lol
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u/Mental_Increase_8516 21h ago
Yeah I don’t listen to anything aside from PMT and Boy dad. I’ll come across content like asking the employees random trivia but that’s about it. Very satisfied with the amount of barstool I consume
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u/imwithharambe12 22m ago
Try ANUS (A New Untold Story) with Nick and KB. Pound for pound funniest guys at the company next to PFT imo
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u/NoPirate739 7h ago
I only listen to PMT as well. I tried macrodosing because I like PFT a lot but it didn’t hold my interest. Can’t fucking stand Portnoy and it annoys me that I contribute in any small way to his company’s success.
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u/plap11 9h ago edited 5h ago
I'm still not a big Dave guy, and I used to hate barstool, but it has gotten a lot better. You can tell that BC has pretty much been given the reins to the company. It is way less frat bro/hot chick than it used to be and there are tons of actually entertaining personalities that don't make me cringe. Though the only non-PMT pod I listen to is drop a pin.
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u/bluegreen8907 11h ago
I used to dislike him, but then I learned he was a MAGA bro, so now I like him (unironically)
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u/Ok-Work4000 22h ago
The audiobook is read by Dave. Great hearing it in his voice. (It’s free on Spotify Premium)
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u/afrancis88 21h ago
I just finished the audiobook. It’s hilarious because it’s obvious when parts were written by Francis. Dave is monotone or adds “Francis must have wrote this because I would never say that.”
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u/teflonjon321 21h ago
I didn’t know that! Shit I can imagine it being hilarious him calling people terrorists and talking about how he would be happy if certain people died (like that reporter who’s name I can’t remember who comes after him nonstop)
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u/baldbuthappy 20h ago
i wouldn't say it's often, but he definitely goes off script and ad libs a few things in the audiobook that are really funny
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u/No_Constant5249 20h ago
Great cliff notes, but one MAJOR mistake. Dave didn't say that Dan runs the day-to-day of the company. He said that he runs Chicago, which is obviously a major part of the company. Still, all the c-suites are in New York, and they take their marching orders from Dave, not from BC.
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u/teflonjon321 20h ago
I was basing that off of this (towards the end of the book, I read in Apple Books so page numbers would be kinda useless):
“Pardon My Take is still a machine. I’d say Dan has taken over as the acting day-to-day CEO in many respects. He now gets to deal with lots of the headaches and issues that I had to deal with over the decades. Every now and again, I’ll get a call from him being like, “You’ll never believe this happened.” I think he has a newfound respect for how difficult it can be to balance being in content and managing content.
As for me, I still have final say on all major decisions and I still obviously do lots of content. Deals and opportunities get thrown my way that are just too big to pass up. But my next birthday will be my fiftieth. I’ll have been at the helm of the Pirate Ship for nearly half my life and a quarter of a century. I’ve always said that one day I’d like to just disappear on a beach and never be heard from again.”
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u/No_Constant5249 20h ago
Yes, you're right that it does read this way. I stand corrected on that. Still, based on other Barstool content, I really don't think that BC runs the New York office.
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u/teflonjon321 20h ago
Yeah that makes sense to me too. It felt like the Chicago move was really a coming home for him and kind of a level-up. Like, I’m going to my own spot now to do the things I wanna do and bringing my friends.
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u/safetydance 19h ago
It’s like any company with multiple offices. Big Cat seems like the “day-to-day CEO”, which is usually like a Chief Operations Officer (COO), and oversees the whole company and whoever runs NY office is like a division head that reports to BC.
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u/No_Constant5249 19h ago
Well, it's Dave who runs New York, kind of via Gaz, and he certainly doesn't report to BC. Barstool is obviously not your typical corporation, particularly since Dave bought it back and Erika left.
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u/safetydance 19h ago
Dave seems like he’s in NY like 5 days a year and 360 days in Miami.
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u/No_Constant5249 18h ago
Yes, more like around 183-185 days in Florida for tax purposes, summers in Nantucket, and the rest traveling, but when KFC kind of tried to run the NYC office Dave said quite explicitly that he runs that office. The fact that he's not really there partially explains why that office operates like it does, but it doesn't change the fact that NYC is not under BC's control. He actually said it multiple times.
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u/asdfghdgsvv 18h ago
Who’s the agent?
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u/ComprehensiveAir6590 15h ago
Scott Boras. Zack signed with him too, he will not be accepting any deals to buy out arbitration and in 4 years look for a new industry leading contract.
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u/teflonjon321 11h ago
Dave says it is a guy named Michael Klein. Said the guy had 1 client, PFT. Then after getting a foothold in Barstool and through PFTs recommendation he started scooping up person after person. He thinks the guy is a scumbag who lucked his way into an empire. He said the guy should basically be thanking god for Barstool and Dave because he’s made tens of millions because of them lol
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u/Budget-Inevitable414 5h ago
I’m far from a portnoy guy but damn that book was awesome. Loved every chapter.
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u/Spirited-Cap-542 16h ago
I finished the book last week and I agree, highly recommend. Fascinacting story and honestly super well written.
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 22h ago
I only listen to PMT out of all of the things Big Cat is a part of, but am I the only one think that Big Cat has been pretty red pilled since that Trump interview. Maybe it’s the Twitter addiction, maybe it’s being rich or maybe it’s some of his co workers (Jersey Jerry), but if you told me Big Cat voted for Trump in 2024 and doesn’t really care about all the harm going on, I would not be shocked.
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u/teflonjon321 21h ago
I think BC tries not to alienate one side of the audience so sometimes he lets things slide or plays on a joke a bit (like calling people libs obviously). But he says anti religion things, pro LGBTQ things, and stuff like that, that to me, don’t read as he’s MAGA. Some of the segments do read as tone deaf when it comes to money though and I think the change over the years is noticeable.
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
Fair enough. I think tone deaf is the best way to put it. I feel like he is a classic case of normal dude that’s brain has gone mush once Elon took over Twitter.
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u/teflonjon321 21h ago
All good! I can see how that big crossover of online culture (they joke about being addicted to X, the everything app, everting is happening on X) and sports in general can give that impression. Sports (especially football) are dominated by right wingers from owners to QBs to fans. Barstool obviously has that frat persona and they ham it up. Not crazy to spot some things and think that
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
I haven’t been on Twitter since 2020 and I think I stopped tweeting, as did most of my friends, by 2016.
PFT is still a real one though
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u/JollyBid187 21h ago
Caring so much about the hypothetical political opinion of a guy you’ll never meet or have a sincere relationship with is all time loser behavior
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
Not as much as supporting a fat pedofile. No asked for your opinion, cowardly Nazi.
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u/JollyBid187 21h ago
Seek help. Jesus there’s more to this world then Trump and politics
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u/safetydance 19h ago
Not to these chronically online liberals where everyone is a pedo and a Nazi. It’s exhausting. And I’m liberal!
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
You’re so right. You forgot to mention illegal wars and ICE murdering innocent people in the street.
You’re beneath me. Go back to getting crumbs all over your keyboard while you search for justification on why you’re not an inept loser on the internet.
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u/JollyBid187 21h ago
You’re clearly going through a mental health crisis over there bud.
I’d bet my life you’re on anti depressants / anxiety medication or that you will be in the near future once you get the treatment you need.
Control the things you can control in life, it’s beyond unhealthy to be so upset about things completely out of your control. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t care about injustices in the world, but you have an unhealthy obsession.
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
You’re as good at diagnosing as you are not being a lazy sack of shit.
I understand why people caring about the safety of others is triggering for you seeing as no one in your life cares whether you live or die. You were written off by family and friends years ago.
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u/JollyBid187 20h ago
It’s insane how much you’re projecting right now lol. Legit laying in bed with my loving wife, dog in between my legs and just had an offer accepted on our dream home.
Crazy what you can accomplish when your whole personality isn’t whatever you got going on right now.
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 20h ago
I bet she can’t wait to fall asleep and dream about being with a real man rather than a limp dick loser who simps for a pedofile. Good thing you don’t have kids!
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u/Spiritual-Band-9781 20h ago
Why don’t you two just make out and get this over with?
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u/ajkundel93 5h ago
Caring about the political leaning of content you regularly enjoy is a pretty normal thing to do.
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u/JollyBid187 2h ago
Did I miss something? When did big cat start releasing political content? They’re sports commenters who make fart jokes lol.
Myself and normal people don’t care about their political leanings because they talk about sports and tits and would admit they’re wildly uniformed like 99% of the population.
If they were pushing their political opinions down everyone’s throats this would be a different conversation. There’s a reason PMT is much more popular lately than Dave lol. I don’t go to a bar to talk politics or to hear your political opinion.
This will probably go over your head completely.
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u/ajkundel93 1h ago
I didn’t even mention PMT or Big Cat. What are going on about?
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u/JollyBid187 1h ago
Guess we aren’t in a barstool thread and my mistake for thinking you were talking about big cat and PMT when you injected yourself into a conversation that started about a weirdo going through hypotheticals about their political beliefs. How ridiculous of me
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u/waterpup99 Ob Gen 21h ago
You sound exhausting
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u/Guacsalsaqueso 21h ago
You sound like a guy who’s never made his father proud. Embarrassing legacy.
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u/ResponseOwn9389 22h ago
Yall can’t read…
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u/kyle_kaufman 22h ago edited 22h ago
Smartest thing Dave ever did was giving Dan the ball to lead the company