Barstool, Fox near deal to put Dave Portnoy on Big Noon Kickoff: report

Fox Sports and Barstool Sports are working on a deal that will include Dave Portnoy on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff program, the network’s flagship college football show, according to Ryan Glasspiegel.

The deal is yet to be finalized, but would be another key move for Fox and Big Noon Kickoff in their effort to compete with ESPN’s popular College GameDay show.

Portnoy’s addition appears to be an attempt by Fox to mirror the success that ESPN has enjoyed with Pat McAfee taking part in College GameDay.

Portnoy and McAfee are both outspoken and opinionated hosts and each is popular with the 18 to 34 demographic that advertisers and media outlets target.

Portnoy, the founder and chief executive of Barstool Sports, would join Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram, Brady Quinn, Chris “The Bear” Fallica, and host Rob Stone on the weekly pregame show every Saturday.

The deal would also include adding other Barstool Sports content to the FS1 network, which is set to make some cuts to its current programming in the near future.

The report notes that Barstool is expected to produce content that will fill some airtime on FS1, likely through a licensing arrangement.

FS1 announced it canceled "Breakfast Ball", "The Facility", and "Speak", but it remains unclear whether the network will engage Barstool to create new content or if existing content will be added to the rotation.

Pardon My Take, hosted by Big Cat and PFT Commenter, is the Barstool network’s most popular program and one of the most listened-to podcasts in the world.

Barstool College Football Show is the outlet’s pregame Saturday content during the season, featuring Big Cat in addition to Brandon Walker and Kayce Smith, with Portnoy also making contributions.

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