Fox Sports is nearing an "expansive" deal with Barstool founder Dave Portnoy that would include adding him to the network's "Big Noon Kickoff" preview show, according to a report Wednesday from Front Office Sports.
Fox has been a major player in the college football space since 2019, which included launching a pregame show that competed against ESPN's "College GameDay." Adding Portnoy would be an obvious response to ESPN's acquisition of Pat McAfee, who hosts his weekday show on ESPN each afternoon and has become a major player on "GameDay." Both men are said to appeal to the coveted demographic of males aged 18-to-34.
One key difference between Portnoy and McAfee is that Portnoy is an actual college football fan. A Michigan graduate, Portnoy is a diehard Wolverines fan who claimed involvement in flipping 2025 No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood from LSU. Obviously, Fox is the major rights holder to Big Ten games, so Portnoy's interplay between Michigan and its many rivals is an obvious content generator for "Big Noon Kickoff." Portnoy is currently a panelist on Barstool's own college football pregame show.
Obviously, Portnoy has a long history of courting controversy and offending people, an aspect that can best be detailed elsewhere and one that is key to the appeal among Portony and Barstool's many fans, which Fox is now openly courting. Fox and its parent company have long been unafraid to appeal to so-called political correctness among polite society.
Long story short, if the courtship between Fox and Portnoy is this far along, rehashing the numerous times Portnoy has caused offense is unlikely to interrupt the deal now.