Dave Portnoy GOES OFF On Bitcoin, AI, Socialism & Being Fired From Barstool

Speaker A: And we're live on Matchday as Doug reaches for a Buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh, and he's gone for a can of Pepsi, too. What a finish. There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Match Days deserve Pepsi. I walked out of that meeting, called Renee, my ex. I go, I just got fired from Barcelona. I couldn't believe it. And we're changing. It's changing from Barcelona sportsbook to ESPN BET, and they did this gigantic deal I think was 10 years, 2 billion is what this deal ended up being. Um, and ESPN would market everything. I talked to Erica, I talked to Dan, and we all kind of regrouped. What do we want to do here?

Speaker B: All right, guys, today we got a conversation with Dave Portnoy. He's founder of Barstool Sports, and he wrote a great book, Cancel me if you can. It is absolutely hilarious. Uh, in this conversation, we talk about how he almost got fired from Barstool, or he did get fired. We, uh, talk about his investments, how much money he's got, how much money he spends on a monthly basis, talk about AI, what stocks he likes, what stocks he doesn't like. Bitcoin. Is he a fan? Is he not? Not how much does he hold? There's incredible amount of detail in here, and he does it all in his own style. He just tells you the truth. It's pretty entertaining. Enjoy. Here's my conversation with Dave Portnoy. All right, Dave, you got a new book out. Everyone is worried about all these little anecdotes, but the craziest story to me is that Penn, the company that had bought Barstool, fired you from Barstool Sports. How's that happen?

Speaker A: Yeah, so I. I thought that would be the number one story in the book. It hasn't been so far, but essentially what happened is. And I tell this story, we're in New York, and I had a great relationship with J. Snowden. Like, we were the CEO of Penn. Yep. CEO of Penn. Like, we. We were lockstep. I trusted him totally. He trusted me. We hadn't met in a bit. He's like, I'll be in New York City. Can. Can you meet me for lunch? Of course. Sure. And. And hand to God, walking into the restaurant, it's a little Italian place. No, Empty. I go, this looks like where somebody would get whacked, like in a mob movie. I literally said it to him. To him as we were walking in. We sat in the the back, nobody around, and he starts telling me updates, like updates on the business he's like, we, uh, are doing a huge deal with espn. Um, which was shocking to me, but great. I didn't know. In my head, I'm like, all right, so is ESPN going to promote Barstool Sportsbook? Are, uh, we like, what's going on?

Speaker B: Because you guys were kind of competitive a little bit in terms of you had a sports book and ESPN wanted to have a sports book, and now the company was going to essentially do a deal.

Speaker A: Yeah, ESPN was basically a hired gun at that point. Like, they could advertise that they may have been advertising DraftKings, FanDuel, whoever. They didn't have a specific company that they're advertising with. We were branded. So when you think Fanduel, DraftKings, we had Barstool Sportsbook along those. And we hadn't actually promoted the sportsbook in quite a while because we got this new technology overhaul. So we had waited. I think we skipped an entire football season of doing any promo. The thought being, um, once the new technology launched, we would want to put all our marketing weight in and the market share would go up. So don't promote it till we're ready. Market share lower, we promote. Boom. We got the new technology of promoting goes up. So I thought that was gonna be what the meeting was about. And he says, we did this big deal with espn. I was, wow, that's crazy. Uh, and I asked him some questions. That's great. Is McAfee gonna promote it? Is Scott Van Pelt gonna promote it? He's like, yeah, they're all in. This should be big for us. Okay, great. And then he segued to the next point, which was like, the only caveat to this deal, which was a done deal, is ESPN said, Dave Portnoy can absolutely not be part of Barcelona Sports or this deal. It was stunning. I mean, I was stunned. And he continued. I didn't get up, be like, oh, my God, what are you talking about? I was taken aback. And it takes a lot for me to be taken back, but I was stunned. And I just kind of sat there. I was processing it. And he continued, and he's like, all your stock options. And when we did the Penn deal, we didn't get paid out immediately. A lot of it was stock, a lot of it vested. All that was going to vest instantly. Um, how much money was it? Tens of millions. It was tens of millions. So, um, I think maybe close to 30 or 40 if I'm going off memory, would have. What I would have had to wait for. I get right away, uh, And I'd be done with Barstow as a way out. And at that time, I certainly was getting a little tired of.

Speaker B: How much money do you think you had made from the whole deal before this? A hundred?

Speaker A: I think the whole deal I was making about 100, if I recall.

Speaker B: So maybe he made 60 or 70.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So, um, so 30 or 40, though, is very material. Oh, super material. Super material. Um, so he explained this all to me, and I'm listening. And he goes through the deal, and I'd be out of the contract. Everything's vested. And I just kind of listened to it. The deal was already done. So we leave the meeting. And I did say casual, what. What if I don't want to be done? Like, what is like, well, this is good. You get to go on your way.

Speaker B: He knew.

Speaker A: It wasn't like. It wasn't like, I'm so gung ho in the company right now. I walked out of that meeting, called Renee, my ex. I go, I just got fired from Barcelona. I couldn't believe it. He had set up, uh, meetings with Erica and Dan, Big cat after me. And same story. Here's what we're doing, and we're so.

Speaker B: Everything's Erica's the CEO of Barstool.

Speaker A: CEO of Barstool. Dan's our, like, number one guy. And we're changing. It's changing from Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN bet. And they did this gigantic deal. I think it was 10 years, 2 billion is what this deal ended up being. Um, and ESPN would market everything. I talked to Erica, I talked to Dan, and we all kind of regrouped. And you're like, what do we want to do here? And they both are like, we do not want to become ESPN employees. We don't want to work with espn. They wouldn't become employees. But for lack of better words, they kind of would have. Um, also, I think we all realize, certainly I did. Most of Barstool would have been fired. Like, no use for them. Like, we have our. Our bullpen of idiots, and people been with us a long time. What are they going to do? They would have probably cut costs because they have this new media behemoth. So came around, talked about it, and it came to the conclusion we weren't going to go along with this. So I called Jay, and I'm like, listen, uh, I cannot let ESPN fire me from my own company of 20 years at this point. This isn't going to work. They had already gone down the path. The ESPN deal was pretty much inked with the understanding I wouldn't be part of it. And, uh, I pitched him the concept to make this work for you guys to go into your new venture with ESPN and to have us be happy and no problems. Because if we were like, holy cow, we just got fired. This new ESPN deal with Penn is

Speaker B: probably dead on arrival because you don't have at that time a legal right to block the deal or to block yourself getting fired.

Speaker A: No, they don't.

Speaker B: It's more of just like the power of Dave and Barstool. These people on the Internet pissed at us is going to be bad news for our company.

Speaker A: Correct. If you're going to ESPN and creating ESPN bet with Penn and you have me in the street saying, hold on, ESPN just fired me from my own company of 20 years. You're gonna go bet with them now? Uh, I don't think that would've gone over that great.

Speaker B: They don't wanna go to war with you.

Speaker A: No. And I did have a great relationship with Jay. So I pitched the concept sell me back barstool for a dollar. That's where that mythical dollar, everyone's.

Speaker B: That was your idea?

Speaker A: Yeah, that was my idea.

Speaker B: Where'd you get it from?

Speaker A: Uh, while we couldn't do it for free because you have to do the transaction.

Speaker B: But you talked to like a lawyer.

Speaker A: Well, yeah, we had, we had lawyers involved to do it, but they couldn't just give it to me. You have.

Speaker B: I know, but like when you first were like, hey, I think I'm gonna pitch him on a dollar. Did the lawyers over there, like, that's a great idea. Or they're like, there's no way they're gonna.

Speaker A: There was no lawyers at that point. It was Jay and I talking like, how do we make this work for everybody involved? So it was like, I'll inherit all of our expenses. And there were expenses and all the payroll and everything. I'll take it over. You, um, got to give me the company back for a buck. Uh, and I believe there was till after the super bowl somewhere about six to 12 months. We couldn't compete versus them. Then after that we could go get a contract. So that was the deal we struck. And it was really depart good ways with us. Penn let them do the thing. I signed a 10 year NDA that said I could never discuss the details of this.

Speaker B: That you got fired.

Speaker A: That I got fired. That was espn because they didn't want the blowback. Even now, right. Saying ESPN tried to fire Dave, like, what the. I can say anything.

Speaker B: Why are you talking about it now,

Speaker A: the beauty of this, I'm finishing my book and the pen ESPN deal falls apart.

Speaker B: This brand new book cancel me again.

Speaker A: It's a brand new book, and I'm right in the last chapter. I didn't know how to finish it, to be honest. I knew it was the perfect ending, but it's like, I can't tell it, um, because they had it in. If I tell, if I bash espn, they, uh, can come after me for everything. So I knew I couldn't do it. Word comes out. The ESPN pen deal is a total disaster. Like, we weren't even promoting, we were getting better numbers than espn. So the deal falls apart. The very first thing I do. I didn't talk to Jay in forever. Hey, I just saw this deal fell apart. What do you think about me, uh, telling the truth about espn and he gave me the green light. So that provided the perfect ending to this book.

Speaker B: I mean, pretty good, dude, if he lets you buy the company back for a dollar and he lets you tell a story.

Speaker A: And I always got along with him, uh, you know, and I asked him after it was all over, what. Because we always saw eye to eye. I'm like, and espn, I don't know what went on behind their doors. I don't know why they were so. I've always. I've clearly. Maybe not clearly, but I've had, you know, headbutts and disagreements with espn.

Speaker B: But is it like, uh, are they like a mortal enemy who deserves, like, a champagne bottle? Or is it more of just, like, it's healthy competition and all is fair and love and war.

Speaker A: ESPN has been the best thing that's ever happened to the history of Barstool. They've given us two gifts beyond belief. So I don't look at them as that mortal enemy. They cancel Barstool Van talk and reunited Barstool and put our best talent back together and kind of united. Then they handed me the company back for a dollar. So I don't look at them, um, like that we have gone to war, I guess. Or exchange words with certain employees of theirs, like Mina Kynes works there, who I absolutely despise and think she's one of the biggest frauds of all time. Um, but why they single? Like, who knows if Barstool with ESPN could have been a successful venture. It was a interesting thing they did to put almost pen in that corner. Like, we'll do the deal, but Dave can't be part of it. It helped us greatly. I asked Jay, I'm like, what made you Think you know me as good as anybody at this point. What made you think I would let ESPN fire me for my own company? And he, He. It was a fair answer. He's like, I just thought you were done. Like, you had been doing content for so long. He was with me through a lot of the worst parts of basically my life and attacks and things. And he stood by me far more than a lot of other companies would have. So I got where he was coming from. Like, hey, let's try espn. Barstool is two steps forward, eight steps back. Because they get attacked by everybody in this legalized gambling world is very difficult. So I got all that. And he just was like, I thought you'd be happy to get the money, go buy your place in Nantucket and disappear. If I.

Speaker B: The regulators liked you or no, hated hated you.

Speaker A: A couple states, you want to go to the Deep South. In Louisiana, they may like me. Massachusetts, my home state, despised me. There was like, a, uh, meeting. I used to watch it online. The gambling council. There's one particular lady who was so biased against us. Another member actually had to literally stand up and be like, I need an objection to be filed that Barstool is being treated differently than all the other companies we've interviewed because they would go read old articles about me that aren't facts, but treat them as facts. So it was. I think I say it in the book. We had a very early discussion when Penn bought us, do we name the gambling app Barstool Sportsbook or come up with a new name? And it was a discussion around table. And I argued we keep it. I'm like, we have so much equity in the name. I think it's important. Hindsight probably would have been better off going a different name and pushing people to it, because just people have so many opinions about us. And that's fine in my world now. I don't care. Like, uh, you say whatever you want about me, and if I want to come back at you, I will. Can't do that when you're regulated by the government. Yeah, like. And that was part of the deal I made with them when we did the deal. It's like, I won't attack government officials. I won't talk on politics as much as I can. Um, because we have to deal with these people. And guess what? One state may be very red where you need a license, the next may be very blue. So you can't win unless you just keep your mouth shut.

Speaker B: I think a lot of people try to figure out, how did you Build this thing.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And so I can only talk from my personal experience interacting with you. Um, the first time I think you and I ever met was during COVID You were doing unboxings, you were doing dv, Day Trader. You know, all this stuff.

Speaker A: You used to cost me a lot of time getting ready to. You made me have to accept bitcoin

Speaker B: for the barstool fund. Before that. Before that, uh, you just randomly DM'd me and said, I'll come on your podcast.

Speaker A: Why?

Speaker B: I would love to know. Cause I didn't ask you to come.

Speaker A: There had to be something that somebody

Speaker B: tweeted at you, I think. But you. You said, yeah. So I was like, okay, fine. You know, you were, uh. That was like your, uh, hall of Fame years, I think, of content creation

Speaker A: was during COVID Covid, yeah.

Speaker B: So we do it. And then afterward, I think we both had fun.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: And then you were like, hey, uh, let's try to figure something out. And so you, Erica, et cetera. We all started talking about stuff. And there's two defining moments that I remember. The first is, uh, I was sitting in the office, uh, with Erica, and we were talking, and you came in. You had about maybe twice as big of a, uh, iced coffee that you were drinking, and you were pacing back and forth, and we were talking about doing barstool, finance and partnership, all this stuff.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And one of the things that we kept talking about was, should we invent some kind of game or sport? And I remember we're talking about, like, should we do heads up trading all this stuff. You're just pacing back and forth, and all of a sudden you just start muttering, I don't know. To us or to yourself. They never saw me coming. They never saw me coming.

Speaker A: Who was I talking about?

Speaker B: Wall Street. And I look at you, and I say, dave, three days ago, you were on tv. You had a cigar in your mouth saying, you're the king of Wall Street. And yesterday, you were pulling Scrabble letters out of a bag saying, this is so easy. I'm, um, better than Warren Buffett. And Erica and I both were like, this is electric content. Like, there's no way to beat this. And, of course, Wall street doesn't know how to compete with, you know, I mean, like, it. Like, CNBC can't do this. None of this stuff. And so I don't think any of that was planned. Like, I think the Scrabble bag you probably just grabbed and was like, this will be funny. And then it turns into a thing. Is that like, how most of the content got created.

Speaker A: All of the content. I mean, there we. We. We do. We have a lot of people, a lot, ah, of talented people, myself included. You try different things, you see what resonates. But, yeah, uh, like, DDTG was massive when it was going, and clearly that was never something I thought that was early, uh, days of COVID It was. We just did the deal with Penn. It's supposed to be sports gambling. We signed the deal. The ink's not even dry. One of the all time mostest barstool stories ever is when we rang the bell on nasdaq. It was the worst day in the history of nasdaq. Like, we're pupping champagne and the entire board behind you is just bright red. Like, the country is ending, the world is ending. No one knows what's going. Like clinking champagne bottles, um, to celebrate the sale. But that was, that's how recent, like, the deal was signed. Covid sports go away. Good thing you got assigned, really. And I didn't know if they were going to business. Their stock went down to, like, three or $2. And I wasn't that close with Jay yet. We just did the deal. So I didn't know what was going on, but I knew we were supposed to promote sports gambling. That's why they bought us Gone. So it's like, all right, well, the stock market going, um, and I decided to do that a day. We had Glenny Balls. Big fat Glenny. And I'm like, first day, I'm like, glenny, give me a stock. It was around 11:45. He goes, People get hungry at lunch. Shake Shack. So I bought Shake Shack. And we just started watching the stock market, and people were riveted. And I was all through Covid.

Speaker B: I mean, to be honest, people do eat lunch, so.

Speaker A: They do eat lunch. They do eat lunch. And I think he bought that stock around like, 30. And at one point it was like triple. Um, so I went live every morning, the stock market opening bell, closing Bell, for about 15, 20 minutes, putting millions, like, into it, day trading it. And it took off. And Wall street, at first, I think, hey, it's funny. This is cute. We're gonna have fun with them. Um, and then I think they started not liking me as much and everything. But I still, uh, like, think Wall street is just an insider's game and the biggest casino and the people try to, like, you know, gatekeep it.

Speaker B: Basically, my take on it was they didn't like that you were saying the truth in such a, like, Crude, transparent way. Because you were like, stocks always go up.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Right. And they were like, oh, you're not supposed to say that. Right? And you're like, no, no. Literally just look at the, look at

Speaker A: the history of the stock market. Right.

Speaker B: It just keeps going up. Like, you guys are not smart.

Speaker A: Stock market, they had never dealt with an Internet guy. So, you know, I'm saying I'm the new captain of the Internet and Warren Buffett's old and like, would you Trust like an 80 year old guy to run any business? Why are you listening to him? And there was also one of those moments, those peak moments where I was like, I don't think airlines or cruises are going out of business. So Spirit Airline, which is now out of business, is like a, was trading down to like six bucks. I'm like, I'm going all in on Spirit Airlines. Big whoop dee doo. We fly in this country. No less than 10 minutes later, Warren Buffett's like, I'm selling all my stock in the airline. So I posed it, me versus Buffett. And Spirit Airlines actually ripped. It went from like 6 to 21 in that span. So I'm like, you follow this idiot Now I'm putting on a show.

Speaker B: But you were right, though.

Speaker A: Um, I was. In that case, I was totally right. But I'm still, I'm talking in barstool language. Well, when you see Dave Portnoy says he's the new cap captain of the stock market, Warren Buffett's old and washed up in the Wall Street Journal, it hits a little different. But that's what was happening. I was spoofed on Billions. They like, they had a guy sitting a desk, whacking. So that was, uh, a whole new audience that that was introduced.

Speaker B: But I think a lot of people also started to realize, like, you were essentially, uh, a mirror to what was really happening in the market. Like, there was tons of young people coming in all this stuff. Right. So, like, in a weird way, maybe you were just like a older version of what was actually happening, but you were the one who was communicating it as directly as possible to the people on the Internet.

Speaker A: Yeah, Gamestop thing happened and I was dead smack in the middle of it because I'm day trading.

Speaker B: And like, didn't you bully Steve Cohen off the Internet?

Speaker A: Yeah, Steve Cohen deleted his.

Speaker B: Tell that story. I actually know the other side of that story.

Speaker A: Yeah. So the Gamestop thing happens and I'm trying to ride it like everybody else. I was maybe a day or two late, but I'm like, oh, my God. The Wall street bets things going bananas. Roaring Kitty had posted a video about me, like, before this happened. He's like, people are making fun of Davey Day Trader. He's going to the moon. Like, before Roaring Kitty was Roaring Kitty. So I was in the middle of it, and then all of a sudden, you can't buy it. You can only sell it. And the thing craters. And I think I lost 70 grand on it. I'm like, what. What is going on? As was everybody else, mostly novices and a lot of people, actually, who didn't trade stocks, who had heard about it, friends who signed up for accounts and put money into this thing to be totally screwed. Like, totally screwed. Uh, Vlad 10 off. He. His first interview was with me. I had on ddtg, and I'm grilling, um, him. He's trying to be, like, hipster. He's wearing a Lakers hat. I didn't know half the stuff I was talking about because I wasn't overly fluent, um, in Steve Cohen. It went through. So that's the way I remember it is it appeared to me that Citadel Steve Cohen were trying to bail out all these. The hedge funds, the people who are shorting it. So I was hammering Steve Cohen, who doesn't have the best Wall street reputation. I'm like, did you guys do the inside trade? Are you getting the information from Robinhood? Are you involved in this?

Speaker B: He had just, like, gotten on Twitter. Yeah.

Speaker A: Because he bought the mats, because he bought the mat.

Speaker B: So he got on it. So the side of the story I know is that he basically was like, I'm gonna talk to the fans. And when this is all going on, he has a bunch of people around him.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: Who are like, hey, let us help you. Let us review the tweets. You know, like, kind of doing the thing that you're there to, like, mitigate risk.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: Number one is don't let the billionaire tweet directly to the people.

Speaker A: Yeah, right. Yeah.

Speaker B: And supposedly he was like, nah, I got it. And he just told everyone, like, leave it alone. And then he did not, I think, realize who he was engaging with.

Speaker A: Yeah, he. He came in, went quick, and who. I. I've gone back and forth. Like, I've never met him. I've heard stories like, he's somebody. Uh, if you want to put down a list of people you don't want to cross, he's generally high on that list. So I don't know if that has complicated things down the road. But, yeah, he deleted it quick. Like, his social media.

Speaker B: So he deleted the entire account.

Speaker A: Yeah. Gone.

Speaker B: And what'd you do when that happened?

Speaker A: I said, I ran him off. I ran him off Twitter. He's come back. But. And I still ask every once in a while. I mean, they. The movie Dumb Money, which was about that whole thing. I still don't know how, because we get threats, uh, like takedown requests, all this. The movie Dumb Money used, uh, a clip of me in the movie without asking me, which I still don't know how. They had the clip of me talking to Vlad 10 off. Except instead of Vlad, they put in the actor who played. But I was still real, and it was still the real conversation. No one. No one told me. It's like, oh, I'm in the movie.

Speaker B: Do you want a royalty check?

Speaker A: No, M. My ego is fine with being in the movie. And maybe they knew that, like, trust me, this guy's just gonna be happy as. But, yeah, so it was like every. Somehow a trait of mine and ability of mine is not on purpose. We're pretty good at ending up smack dab in the middle of big things. Like, how in the world was I in the middle of a GameStop controversy? But I was there, and I.

Speaker B: But it's also on the Internet, and I think that there is something about, like, having your finger on the pulse of what's happening. And I think being able to communicate what you're thinking. One of your greatest skills is just like, you just say what you think.

Speaker A: Yeah, right.

Speaker B: And so you're like, hey, what are all these people over here doing? It's kind of like you're walking down the sidewalk, you see a big group gathering, and you're just nosy. Right?

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker B: What's this group?

Speaker A: And for the. For the. For the finance. They just had never. There hadn't been an innovation in how people talk about finance probably till Mad Money, like in Mad Money had been around forever. There weren't people making hype videos. Like, I was making green dildo or whatever. The green. I had a green hammer. I mean, I was going after these. These, like, hedge the people on tv. I mean, I was crucifying them. And they didn't know how to react. And by the way, if you react, you probably lost because I have a team of, like, ninjas making these hype videos for me. So it was, ah, it was something. Yeah.

Speaker B: I mean, it was pretty entertaining.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Right. All right. Um, so the second interaction, uh, or part of this interaction is we started talking about, hey, should we go do this? Or whatever. And, uh, I never really Thought that this was like a big deal or anything that was noteworthy. But I heard Big Cat on a podcast say that I was one of the only people to ever go through, hey, should we do something together and walk away? And he was very, uh, shocked because the deal that you had offered at the time was let's do barstool finance and we'd be 50, 50 partners on it. And the part that I got hung up on was I was to take all of the assets and contribute them to it and you guys would bring the barstool machine in. The world I come out of is you got to buy it, right? And so we just were like, hey look, we like each other. We think this could be pretty powerful, whatever. But I'm like, hey look, you guys gotta buy it. You guys, like now you just contribute it. And the reason why that was so interesting to me was I think I got an insight into how you guys worked with so many of these creators, right? Most of them aren't business oriented. They don't selling their Instagram account or whatever. It's like not a thing. But then you look at your track record and the ability to supercharge these people, whether it's the, you know, call her daddies or whatever. Like, I don't know if there's anybody who's got a bigger hits business than you guys have had over the last 15 years or so, taking people who nobody knows and making them huge stars. Right?

Speaker A: Yeah, I've said that. I, uh, think I would put our roster of digital media, new age media stars up against any network really. Um, if you include me, but me, Big Cat, pft. And then you look, I mean, bussing with the boys, spitting Chiclets, uh, call her daddy, Call her daddy.

Speaker B: Jenna marbles, even KFC on Instagram is Pat, Matt, precious, one minute, you know, man, all that stuff.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. That is the model what you just described and that is how we do the model with a lot of the people. It's uh. Now I don't know if we had like a term on yours. Like the talent is generally, well, you do two or three years, very similar to an athlete in a way.

Speaker B: You basically sign them and then there's some sort of like revenue share component to it, right?

Speaker A: Yeah, it depends how big they are when they come into our world on what that is.

Speaker B: Now you've started to, uh, eat into more. So now you guys, you know, you've gotten into alcohol, you do the events, you sign the big deal with Fox. Do you know the Saturday football stuff. Like, it almost feels like you guys as a business have graduated. Are you still looking for some of, like the undiscovered talent and that's still part of the model? Or do you feel like you've reached

Speaker A: a point now where we always are? It's, it's far more difficult to find that talent now, um, because they don't need us as much. It really, you're evaluating two things. Hey, we can, as you said, supercharge your career. If you're talented, you can basically cut the line. You can grow really fast. But in this day and age of, you know, streaming and Twitch and Instagram and Snapchat and TikTok, you can build a pretty big brand without being attached to a network. It's a lot easier. So you that that's what people who try to hire have to weigh. Um, we're always looking, but it's, we're not going. Like, it's not the number one priority. If we find them, great, we will hire them, but we're not out there scouring.

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Speaker A: Yeah, right?

Speaker B: And you look at, you know, Penn Deal, right? You look at Steve Cohen. I mean, we can just go through all these examples. There's some people who are really attracted to that and they want to come and work with you guys, etc. There's a lot of people who are just like, these guys are crazy. I don't want to be associated with them. Whatever huge reason is because the media came after you. How bad was that? Like, I know that people look at you and they're like, oh, he punches back. And there's a lot of folks who I think are inspired by that or whatever. But, like, I've had people come after me. I've had, you know, death threats. All of a sudden, it's not fun. I can't imagine that you were in a good spot.

Speaker A: The Business Insider stuff was the lowest. I've been, uh, probably in the barstool, 20 something years.

Speaker B: Like, you felt like you were under attack.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's not only under attack. I, I knew there are lies and I knew what they were going to write. And, you know, the day before the article comes out, like, I call my parents, be like, just heads, uh, up. This is going to be written about me tomorrow, and everyone's going to be talking about it. That's a horrible thing to do. My girlfriend at the time, ex girlfriend, I hadn't met her parents yet. They're saying, really, I mean, if we're just being blunt, they got away with saying they didn't accuse me of rape. And in the article, it's like, there isn't. But the headline's rape. Like they said it's basically reads his rape. Um, totally made up. It was. To me, it was very depressing. It was very scary that that can be done on that level. And, you know, I fought that tooth and nail. I tried to sue. Didn't get anywhere with that. Uh, and even that will be misconstrued. Dave lost the lawsuit. Like, I couldn't prove malice, like, because they didn't, they didn't say I was in jail when I wasn't. But if I could ever get like, the emails on how this happened and where it came from, there's no amount of money I wouldn't pay for that because I know it was a hit piece and I don't know where it came from. So, yeah, that, uh, that was a bad time. I don't care about a lot of the other stuff. Like, I. It's so.

Speaker B: But that's the one that bothered.

Speaker A: That's the one. And still.

Speaker B: Did you think about giving up at any point, just being like, I'm just gonna go away?

Speaker A: No, but I mean, I still live with it every day. Like, you know, we were just talking a little bit about politics before we started and, and people don't like me. Like they'll quote that article like it's real and be like, oh, you're going to listen to this guy and there's nothing I can ever do to change it. But that's, that'll be with me forever on Totally False. And when I say false, I always make it clear. I'm not talking like, oh, there's 0.1, 1 chance. There's zero. It's just a made up article. Um, so that, that was low.

Speaker B: I think you are the, uh, I don't know if you call uh, the Wall Street Communications, uh, strategy innovation. I know you call it that. I don't know if that's really innovation, but I do think the innovation was like, oh, you're a journalist. Well, why don't we just sit down, have a conversation and we'll just roll the cameras, no editing, and we'll just see what happens. I'd never heard anyone say that to a reporter before. That was the funniest shit of all time.

Speaker A: And they won't do it, of course, which is always my point. It's like the business editor and then the New York Times each spent a year plus in my life and didn't want to sit down with the subject they were interviewing. And by the way, they never talked to my ex wife who I was married to for five years, dated for five. Never talked to Erica Nardini, never talked to any of our female employees. They were just calling every. People would send me, uh, audio recordings of the reporter. And they were crazy that it's like they're so digging. So yes, I've always said even this book tour, people would come up and I'd be like, yeah, I'll do it. But, uh, I'm recording it. The Wall Street Journal literally came over and he said, I hadn't read your book. And I heard all your requests to do this interview and I was very confused why. You were like, I have to record it. And then he's like, I read you a book, I understand now why you want to record it. And I learned that early on. I learned that, uh, from Inside Edition and a clip that will still. This is when I was young, naive, dumb. I thought they were going to a fair interview. It was a hit piece and it was all. It was two hours chopped into 45 seconds of making me look like Hitler. And I okay, I'm going to have to be a little more careful because I was naive at that point.

Speaker B: We come from the Internet, you come from newspapers, right? And Then all of a sudden, it's like, hey, these people have an agenda, and they've got distribution. In a game where you don't have a megaphone back, like, you can't reach the TV audience without going through. Right.

Speaker A: And I grew up in a household like my dad. New York Times gospel, like CNN gospel. That's. That's the household I grew up in. And it's kind of what I just thought. I, like, I never, till I got into barstool, really thought about, oh, the. The Times is left, or the Washington Post is left. That never crossed my mind. Really. I didn't pay that much attention.

Speaker B: Uh, you mentioned politics. Uh, you're all over the news right now because you said that you may run for mayor of New York City. Why not just run for president?

Speaker A: I mean, it really, uh, the New York City thing is because I'm specifically. It's not, I guess, only here, but I am overly disgusted with what is going on, with who's being elected from Mandami down to these primaries. And the things they've said. They've let the fox into the hen house. And I am, as I'm sure you are, but I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a capitalist. I'm not saying this country is perfect, but I do love this country. And they're openly, like, saying they hate the country and they want over. I mean, it doesn't even sound real when you're like, well, she found a group that wanted to overthrow Western society. And that she said, like, state the

Speaker B: stated, uh, mission of the group.

Speaker A: Correct. And it's like that we're electing her, like, and Mandami's got her hand in the air, and they're doing a pub crawl. So that's. That's shocking to me. That's really, uh. That's why I said New York City, because, you know, he. He is doing what he said he wanted to do before he got elected, which is get as many socialists elected and then basically seize the means of communication. And they truly seem like they don't like this country and they want a major change. So that's when, you know, I get asked. I go back and forth on it. I like, could I win in New York? Probably not. A lot of people being like, you go and win in New York, but

Speaker B: because the demographics, uh, stronghold.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think it'll be really hard and outsider, but who know, knows, um, would

Speaker B: you run as a Republican? Turn independent?

Speaker A: Probably independent. But I'll tell you what I would do, which would be a little Shift from Mandami. He's got these idiotic politicians who don't know what the Internet is, and he uses it like a weapon. He's never gone up against somebody who can be, like, not so fast, like, you think you're good at the Internet. I'm pretty good at the Internet myself, so it would be a very different type of opponent for him than what he's used to. It's almost like he's treating, like how I was treating Wall Street. They don't know what to do when he's making these cutesy videos.

Speaker B: Yeah, he's got kind of like a Mr. Rogers neighborhood vibe in the videos, by the way, he's an excellent communicator at doing it.

Speaker A: He's very good. He's very savvy. Um, and he knows how to use the Internet and social media and appeal. These people and the people he's campaigning against have absolutely no answers and no idea how to combat that. I. I may not win, but you give me some Internet stuff, I'll do some Internet stuff.

Speaker B: I think that, uh, your meme warfare would be very good compared to, like, Mr. Rogers neighborhoods.

Speaker A: Totally. And I'm sure I could raise an absolute war chip, because there's a lot of people who do not like this guy. So, uh, yeah. I mean, you asked in the beginning, off camera, like, is it real? It is real. Do I think it's going to happen? No, but there's a lot of times I feel like my dad on the other side, I can't get out of this space. Like, it's social media, it's the tv. And I really am like, what is going on in this country? Specifically starting in New York, I feel like Mandami is the head of the snake. Um, so that's why I said New York. And then other days, I'm like, dave, you have a great life. You're in Isle Morada, half the year in the Keys and Nantucket, and you've made it. Why, like, why do you want this? I mean, I said that about Trump. Like, what made Trump want to be president? Seemed to have a pretty good life. And there's no dirtier game than politics, 100%.

Speaker B: How many houses you have?

Speaker A: Great question. Uh, I have five. Five houses. One's got mold and it being fixed.

Speaker B: So it's pretty crazy to go from the newspapers to. You had to think for a second how many houses you have.

Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. Uh, yeah, listen, Barstool has been that. That's what the book really did. It's like, you look back and it's like, how did we do this? I don't even know. Could it ever be done again in the. Probably not the right time, right place. Um. I never dreamed we'd become this successful. It's been a wild, wild ride.

Speaker B: How much money do you think you spend in a month?

Speaker A: I have no clue. I mean, I'm actually not an overly. I like horses. Yeah. Uh, and I bet on sports, but I'm not, like, flashier going out.

Speaker B: So my take on you is, like, you don't really party and do all the crazy things where, like, most people blow a bunch of money, but, you know, horses and houses, like, those are expensive.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, those are. But the houses are an investment. So it's like if the house. Listen, uh, I don't think you can go wrong where I'm getting the houses. And if the money is sitting in the stock market, we're sitting in real estate. To me, that. That.

Speaker B: Did you buy any of the houses sight unseen, or did you visit each one of them?

Speaker A: I visited each one of them and I had the same feeling. So Nantucket's my favorite place in the world. Dream place, going. Had the absolute, like, best feeling when I walk through the door. That was the same with my aisle Morata house.

Speaker B: You just knew.

Speaker A: Just knew. And then Saratoga, I bought a, uh, tear down and rebuilt it near the track. So those are the three that I'm really in. All right.

Speaker B: Um, in the content game, one of the things that I hear people talking about but I haven't really seen anyone do yet, is all this AI Content. You worry about that at all with barstool?

Speaker A: In what sense?

Speaker B: Like, if somebody shows up and is like, hey, we don't even need the talent anymore. Forget, like, I think you called it, you know, your. Your circus of idiots. And we can just, like, remove all the cost of this and we're just going to use computers.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, that, uh. Luckily for the morons who work for me, I. I wouldn't do that, but I could. I could replace 90% of my staff with AI. I did my audiobook and I couldn't read. Like, I can't read. I actually think I do have dyslexia a little bit. Like, I hated it. So I spent ten grand to have this very advanced AI read it. You could not tell the difference. I couldn't tell the difference. My parents couldn't tell the difference. They wouldn't let me do it. The book company's like, can't do it.

Speaker B: So you had to read it.

Speaker A: Yeah. So I had to read it. But the AI was so good, it was scary. Like nobody would ever know it was me. It was picking up everything. So of course AI could replace these fools. I have. Although we have had a couple employees try to use AI and it almost makes them too intelligent, where we're like, that's not you. Because it's too good. So. But, uh, it is a tool that if I wasn't working for us, like if we sold or I was out and it was ESPN and Pen, 100%, that would be a concern.

Speaker B: Do you use any other AI tools? Like on a day to day basis?

Speaker A: None. I mean, well, I use like chat.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, we got to get you on Sylvia. You seen that yet?

Speaker A: No.

Speaker B: We built this product. You, uh, go in and you attach all your accounts, like your financial accounts. You just talk to it about your finances. Oh, so if you were like, uh, you know, hey, should I buy the horse or not?

Speaker A: Yeah, it has all. I don't want to disparage one of your products since it's yours, but that sounds like one of those horror movies where the robot takes over your finances and you go and log in money.

Speaker B: It can't touch the money. Can't touch the money.

Speaker A: Money.

Speaker B: Well, maybe it'd be too smart. Right?

Speaker A: Is like eventually it. Eventually one day there's a, like one of these. And there's been a lot of the movies where the robots become too intelligent. Like, of course, turn around, kill the humans. Yeah, that's going to happen with AI and we're going to be like, who couldn't have seen this coming? I mean, it's becoming that smart.

Speaker B: You worry about that? Like, no.

Speaker A: Like human spirit. But I mean, it's crazy what it can do.

Speaker B: Yeah. CFO Sylvia.com. you should check it out. Um, your, uh, ex wife, you said that she was the first person you called when they tried to fire you from Barstool. I also saw a clip that she still has access to your bank account.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's a Shan Sharp clip. Like crazy viral.

Speaker B: Okay, so, uh, explain what's going on there.

Speaker A: Yeah, so she's really one of my best friends still to this day. Uh, she was with me from day one. Literally in the book. It's like she would hand out newspapers day one. So we always had a great relationship. We didn't separate because there was some scandal or anything else. We both it. We have love for each other, but maybe we weren't in love, if that makes any sense. But I've trust her implicitly. She's somebody who was there with me from day one. Like, living every up, living every down. Hey, we got to go move in with your in laws. We have no money. We can't do this. We can't. Never complained. Always, like, very supportive, had my back. So to me, she's part of the growth. And really, we separated when the thing exploded. Trust her always. Um, so it never really occurred. We didn't get divorced right off the bat. In fact, we still haven't. But the reason in the beginning was like, let's see what separation's like. And we stayed separated and the money was coming in. She can do whatever. I trust her. She could have always, at any point still today, be like, I'm taking all the money. I'm running. I just know she would never do it. It's trusting somebody as much as I trust my par, really. Um, we did try to get divorced. It got denied by Massachusetts. Uh, so I didn't even know they could do that. Neither did I. It was news to me. Um, we had an agreement set up.

Speaker B: It's like a reverse arranged marriage.

Speaker A: Yeah. It's crazy. I didn't know they could do it. They said it was unequable. Um, but she also was like, I think at the time I was buying the Nantucket house. It's like, well, if we just split everything, it's just going to sit there in the bank account anyways, the same way. Except I don't have the collateral to get the Nantucket house. And she didn't want it. And we had a very good. It's like she gets. It was set up in a way exactly. Pretty much how we were living for the past five to six years, except to make it legal. And the judge was like, no. So it's very rare, I think, in life that you have somebody that you can trust like that which you've been through the ups and downs and everything, and she's one of them. And I'll always be there for her, and I think she'll be there for me.

Speaker B: Yeah. Makes sense. Bitcoin. Uh, you went from, uh, I think hating it to again. You became the diamond hand.

Speaker A: I hate it again. Yeah. Well, what do you think? Why? It's like, I'm always in at the wrong time. So when you.

Speaker B: When you start talking about it, I do get nervous.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: As soon as I see you start to. I'm like, oh, shit.

Speaker A: So I. I. Originally, the whole Winklevoss disaster was. It was 11,000. When the Winklevoss has explained to me what Bitcoin Was it came to your house. And I remember first time it was. We're both in the Hamptons there at same hotel, and they're like, we own, like, whatever the bitcoin. And we're six two, and there's two of us, so we'll come explain it to you. And they said, elon Musk will go to outer space. He's going to mine gold from outer space and rain down plentiful. So these guys are crazy. So I had bought 2 million of it at, uh, 11,000. They walked out of the room, sold them. I don't. I do not understand any of what they're saying. It went to, like, 50,000 or 60,000 in fast order. Like, you can probably find the date of when they did that and see

Speaker B: how quickly from, like, August M or September of 2020 to, like, March of 2021. Six months.

Speaker A: Yes. So. And that's when they were there. August. So it's like, all right, I, uh. If you 6x2 million is 12 million. I was not happy. And then I was like, I got to get back in it. Everyone's talking about this thing I've been in out. So I'm in right now probably at an average of, like, 100 bucks, something like that. What do we have, 59. I don't know what the hell's going on with it. I really.

Speaker B: Nobody knows.

Speaker A: No, I mean, you got Sailor selling it, saying it's good that he's selling it. Who knows? Who knows? I'm not gonna sell it. May go to zero. I may lose millions again. All, uh.

Speaker B: Right. But it's not, like, a material part of your net worth.

Speaker A: It's enough that I'm like, I look at it every day. Will I be fine? Yeah. Uh, but I probably had, you know, 15 million in it at some point.

Speaker B: $15 million of Bitcoin?

Speaker A: Not anymore, I don't. No, but I probably did. Yeah.

Speaker B: You know how to get 10 million is you start with 15.

Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I'm always, always, always on the wrong side of bitcoin and crypto. Always.

Speaker B: Well, there's other coins that you bought along the way. And I could see, like, the, uh, chats. Right, yeah. The chats would convince you.

Speaker A: Well, I dabbled with meme coins, which was, honestly, maybe in the 20 years, the craziest thing I was ever involved in.

Speaker B: Like, we did the hat, uh, like a college, uh, selection. And you, uh, picked one of the coins.

Speaker A: Yeah, that. That was Safe Moon.

Speaker B: Safe Moon.

Speaker A: Yeah. And then I got mentioned in a lawsuit. They're like, you are an insiders. Like, I literally picked out of a hat, said, I have no idea. It's probably a scam. And I lost all my money, so. But I had to hire a lawyer because there's all these influencers who I guess were given free Safe moon, uh, and didn't disclose. And I got included in that. And it's like I got my. I got killed. I told people, but I had to pay a lawyer. And then they laid out and they dismissed me from the charge, but I still had to pay for it. Yeah. So I'm always, always, always on the wrong side of everything.

Speaker B: Regarding that, how do you pick what stocks you buy now?

Speaker A: Uh, I'm fairly safe right now. Like, I have a guy who helps me, like a broker, but it's fairly safe. There's nothing crazy in there.

Speaker B: All right, I want to. I want to mention, uh, three moments in barstool history. You tell me what you remember from them. Uh, Brady six going to jail.

Speaker A: Clearly that. That's the most.

Speaker B: Did you think you were going to go to jail?

Speaker A: No, no. They're very barstool. It's like, I. We don't think too far in advance. Um, I thought even when you change

Speaker B: just for people who don't know, you change yourself to the NFL.

Speaker A: So when Brady got the four game suspension from the NFL for default, we're like, we got to do something. We're still in Boston. Drove to New York, put like 1, 2 I black on patriot gear. We went to NFL headquarters, demanded to speak with the Roger Goodell. They said no. They actually first asked if we had an appointment, and then, uh, they said no. We handcuffed ourselves to each other in the headquarters and did a sit in and got arrested. And the police were kind of. They knew who we were at that point a little bit. They're kind of joking. So I didn't think we were gonna get arrested. Uh, I was wrong. We spent a day in jail. It was horrible. So that. That's the memory.

Speaker B: Did people in jail know who you were?

Speaker A: No, no, the cops did. The cops thank God because they were trying to move us around. What do they call the tunnels? That's where we were. I mean, if you, like, commit murder, you go to the tunnels. Like, it's where everybody goes who commits a crime in New York City that night. And there can be some scary people there. The cops knew we were not a threat and they were trying to move us around to keep us kind of separated from, like, hardened criminals. Um, yeah, that.

Speaker B: You mean the guys in the Patriots gear.

Speaker A: Yeah, right. Like, the guys protesting brave when the judge saw us the next day. And it would be like, the case before us would be, like, domestic abuse, something serious, or like, a murder. And then we get up there, and she's like, what'd you do? It's like, we proceed. Uh, that protested Tom Flick, Tom Brady. And she cracked a little smile. It's off our record, so. Yeah. All right. How.

Speaker B: It's. Her gate is probably one of the. The craziest ones.

Speaker A: Yeah. It's funny because Will Compton, who worked for us, busting with the boys. Big star.

Speaker B: Is he a star?

Speaker A: He's a star. He's. He's a star. And I like Will. He's one of the guys I wish we could have back. But, um, he texted.

Speaker B: What's he called? Like, Seal. Uh, Seal Team six or whatever. What does he do? Dad? Team Six?

Speaker A: Yeah, he does all sorts of stuff like that. But, uh, he texted me m this morning. Didn't even know about Brady gate. That shows how long we've been doing. He worked for us. He had no idea what it was. Wow. That.

Speaker B: I mean, um, he's viral. He brings you in the closet. You know, farts in the phone.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, he's.

Speaker B: He is a big star.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, Howitzer gate.

Speaker A: That was. Was that our first really huge controversy? So that's back in the blogging days when I'm just cranking out 10 to 15 blogs a day every 45 minutes, looking for something, uh, that's interesting. It's also the height of the Patriots Colts rivalry, specifically Brady versus Manning. Like, I hated Peyton Manning. I was so Team Patriots, whatever. At this point, every. The media is always Peyton Manning this, Peyton Manning that, Colts this, Colts that, Colts 14, 0 to start a season page has got no respect, but we whooped him every year one day. So. And I'm doing my scrolling across the Internet to talk about. Find things to talk about, and lo and behold, there's a picture of Gisele, uh, Brady's wife, their little toddler on the beach. It's an infant toddler. Well endowed, to say the least. It was, like, shocking. So I wrote a blog, Check out the Howitzer on Brady's kid. And then the sentence below is, peyton Manning could never have a kid like this. That was it. It was like a shot at Peyton Manning moved on, didn't think anything of it.

Speaker B: Like, that was the whole blog.

Speaker A: Yeah, that was it. It was like, just, Peyton Manning could never have a kid like this. Press, publish, move on. Uh, I Don't know how long it was. A couple hours. All hell breaks loose. Dave's a pedophile. Dave's posting pictures of kids, uh, dicks. A lot of people didn't know how the Internet worked. People were acting like I was in the bushes with a camera, a long range camera, taking the picture. The pictures all over the paparazzi pages, like, the same pages we went to get photographed. It was everywhere. And I thought I was making a very clear Peyton Manning joke. Well, I mean, people were calling for my head. The state police showed up at my house. Uh, I was on Howard Stern. Howard Stern trashed me. It was. It was nuts. And people still. In the book, I talk about it, people still bring up out of context tweets from that controversy as, like, trying to say, got them. Yeah, like, there's a question. The tweet I have that says, wah, wah.

Speaker B: He's.

Speaker A: He's two years old. It's child porn. I, uh. This sounds horrible even saying. I'm mimicking people who are saying that because, like, the kid's so young. If you sexualize the kid, you're screwed up. It's like the Gerber baby. But people have no idea what the quote came from or what it's in. So they're like, dave, it's crazy. Um, so, yeah, that was a. That was a wild time. Wild.

Speaker B: All right, last one is Teco, uh, Texas.

Speaker A: I didn't see that one. Tico, Texas.

Speaker B: I mean, that's got it. That's like catch me outside before. Catch me outside.

Speaker A: Yeah. Tico, Texas. Teco, Texas. How do we even start here? So. So Loud Sean is a rapper. Loud Sean.

Speaker B: What a name.

Speaker A: Yeah. Uh, no. Was it Loud? No. Little Sean. Big Sean. Big Sean. Loud Sean was a crazy employee. We had Big Sean, rapper, was dating Ariana Grande. They broke up. Kevin Clancy, who works for us, was like, what a. What a fumble by Big Sean. You're never going to get someone bigger than Ariana. Better than Ariana Grande. You're lucky you had Ariana Grande. There was a rapper in Texas called Teco, Texas, who. I don't know how her Twitter feed found Kevin's tweet, but it did, and she did not like it. She was a big, Big Sean fan. How dare you say that about Big Sean? You're an idiot. She was black. Kevin's white. She started calling him a baseball fan. That was her word for, like, white fans. And she's like, you're the worst. And it turned into this battle, and Teco, Texas, wrote a rap song. About Kevin dissing him. Kevin wrote a rebuttal rap song about Chico, Texas. Also killed me in it because I was on Tico's side. I was like, go get Kevin. He's such a baseball fan. Whatever Tico did, I was like, tell me more, Tico. And, uh, I ended up then writing a rap song. Getting in the rise page. Use rise. I went to south by Southwest to visit Tico and one of the crazier three day trips I've ever had. She eventually was a full time employee. Teco, Texas. She just stopped showing up to work. Um, but just.

Speaker B: You had to fire her?

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, just another one.

Speaker B: It is hard to get fired from barstool.

Speaker A: Real hard. She just wasn't showing up. Her contract was probably up and we didn't renew. Just, uh, another one of those crazy shooting stars we've had in our universe.

Speaker B: All right, you got this book, uh, that came out, uh, Dave Portnoy, cancel me if you can. I gotta say, the best marketing I've seen for a book is you sitting next to the pool. Just open up to a random page and you just start reading and it's electric.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

Speaker B: I mean, that is like. There is no better. Like, let me show you.

Speaker A: Yeah. I wish I could read the whole thing. That voice, uh, the audiobook. You can't be like that. Because it's hard to read like that, an entire book. But yeah, that, that. I haven't felt pressured or market anything in a long time. I feel pressure with the book. Like, I don't know why. I do. Like, if it's not on the New York best bestsellers list, I.

Speaker B: Do you think they would put you on if you had the numbers?

Speaker A: So I didn't know that it was, uh, editorialized. Correct. Now, they did promote it as saying it would be one of the bigger books of the summer, so maybe. But yeah, I. I don't know why. I don't know why some things put pressure on me. I feel pressure for this to be successful.

Speaker B: All right, well, we don't want you to feel pressure, so.

Speaker A: I do. I feel pressure.

Speaker B: No, I know, but like, if people go by the book, then the pressure should leak.

Speaker A: Need by book, buy multiple. They're not that expensive. And for the first week. When's this dropping?

Speaker B: Uh, today.

Speaker A: So I'm doing $10 because I didn't do this for money. And to be honest, I don't even understand how the book industry works. It seems like not the most lucrative thing of all time to spend your time on a book. Um, no offense to. You know, our publishing is great, Gallery, but I don't get the finances. I didn't do it for the money, but so $10 every book I'm giving to Lifeline Animal Shelter this week, which is basically probably all the profit. Uh, which is where I got Miss. Miss Peaches and Pete the Beagles from. Yeah.

Speaker B: Barstool Fund. You did a great job there. Now you know more at the Animals, right?

Speaker A: Yep, yep.

Speaker B: How many, uh, businesses with the Barstool Fund?

Speaker A: We're close to 450 raised. About 50 million.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's great.

Speaker A: Yeah. That's probably the proudest thing that I have, actually.

Speaker B: That's another. I should have said, uh, another interaction with you, Erica, and Barstool was watching you guys try to figure out how to take crypto was quite hilarious.

Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. And there were a lot of big mouths in crypto who got. Shut up real quick, though, because they're like, if you get it, we'll donate all this money. And that just never came. It's like, we spent all this. Where's our crypto? It just never came.

Speaker B: I remember I introduced you guys to a company, like, I will help. And then they called me back and they were like, I don't know if anyone can help them.

Speaker A: We had no idea how to do it. None. Zero. But all these people, like, take crypto. We'll do it. We'll do it. We did get it done, and it just never came. But, yeah, that was, uh, very proud of that. I mean, there's a lot of business still. If I see them, we saved a lot of business, A lot of great businesses. So I'm proud of that.

Speaker B: Listen, I think that, uh, you probably get too much shit, uh, for the bad stuff. You don't get enough credit for the good stuff. So I think you're doing a great job. Cancel me if you can. Everyone go pick it up.

Speaker A: Appreciate it.