Report: FOX Sports, Barstool nearing deal to include Dave Portnoy on Big Noon Kickoff

Fox Sports and Barstool Sports are nearing a deal that would include Dave Portnoy on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff and additional Barstool content on FS1, per Ryan Glasspiegel. This comes amid the news of FS1’s programming cuts earlier this week.

According to the report, the deal has not been finalized. It’s another move for Big Noon Kickoff to compete with the every popular College GameDay on ESPN.

Portnoy, the founder and CEO of Barstool Sports, would join Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram, Chris “The Bear” Fallica and host Rob Stone on the weekly pregame show. Hall of Famer Charles Woodson appears on special occasions due to his NFL obligations.

“Barstool content is expected to fill some of this FS1 airtime, likely via a licensing agreement,” Glasspiegel wrote for Front Office Sports. “Details were not immediately available about which Barstool personalities will be included for this deal, or whether this would mean a new show or existing franchises, such as Pardon My Take, get repopulated onto the network. The Twitter/X account BackAftaThis first suggested that Barstool personalities would be appearing on FS1.”

FS1 announced cancellations of shows Breakfast Ball, The Facility and Speak this week. As the report states, it’s unclear if Barstool shows will be licensed to certain time slots or new original programming will come to the network, featuring Barstool personalities in addition to Portnoy.

Pardon My Take is the network’s most popular show and one of the most listened to podcasts in the world. Hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter (Dan Katz and Eric Sollenberger) hit the mainstream in terms of lead sports talk personalities in today’s landscape.

In addition to that show, there’s the Barstool College Football Show, which is the outlet’s own pregame show on Saturdays. In addition to Big Cat’s contributions to the show, it features hosts Brandon Walker and Kayce Smith, with Portnoy and Big Ev chiming in as well.

Since Barstool has an established college football brand, among its other programming and content, it’s unclear what the status of that show will be. From a pure speculative point, the show would continue with the possibility of the show’s personalities being able to cross-promote on FOX Sports.

There’s no doubt the network nearing a deal with Barstool is a direct response to ESPN’s programming and FS1’s changing lineup. College GameDay has been the de facto show for decades, but Big Noon Kickoff has certainly made its presence felt, especially with securing high-profile games for the 12:00 p.m. ET kickoff time slot.