Erika Ayers Badan is no longer the CEO of Barstool Sports, ending a tenure that saw the digital media company enter and exit the legal sports betting industry during her leadership.
“I’m stepping down as CEO of Barstool and I’m sad about it,” Badan said in a video posted on Tuesday on X. “It’s been a wild run. I’m so grateful.”
Viva pic.twitter.com/9bqaXdCcsh
— Erika (@erika_) January 16, 2024
The CEO since 2016 was in charge of Barstool Sports when gaming company PENN Entertainment spent more than $500 million from 2020-2023 to eventually purchase 100% of Barstool. PENN launched Barstool Sportsbook’s online app in 2020 and was active in more than a dozen states a year ago before it ran into multiple regulation issues and controversies that led to PENN selling Barstool.
Moving on
Badan ran the company when it built a podcast, social media, and digital empire and created 5,000% revenue increases during eight years.
“What we made of it, it exceeded my wildest expectation and I’m so proud," Badan said. "We grew the company into something I don’t think anybody ever thought possible or probable. I think the expectation or desire that Barstool would fail were really high and I think we defied that and I’m so proud about not just what we built — but we did it in our own way, we did it in our own style, we did it with our own people.”
Badan said she doesn't know what her next career step is, but she plans to help Barstool during the transition to another CEO.
Not so easy
The well-known brand that brought sports betting to a certain demographic didn’t navigate the regulation end of the gaming industry well.
Barstool struggled to get licensed in its home state of Massachusetts, where regulators were not enthralled by the media company’s controversial content.
Old Bay State regulators also took issue with founder/owner David Portnoy’s “Can’t Lose Parlays,” which wasn’t a good look for PENN.
Ohio regulators fined PENN $250,000 last year for Barstool marketing to college students under 21 years of age.
New York's lucrative sports betting market wouldn't license Barstool when it launched wagering in 2022.
End of an era
PENN took another PR hit when it forced the firing of a Barstool employee for using a racial slur. The backlash from the digital media company’s followers led to a 14% stock drop, but PENN feared more regulation issues if it didn't make a statement.
Despite buying out the remaining of percentage in Barstool in early 2023, PENN decided six months later to sell the company back to Portnoy for $1.
The gaming company switched platforms to ESPN Bet in November 2023, spending $2 million to acquire the marketing rights from the World Wide Leader.
