Dave Portnoy claims that he was offered an official government position.
While questioning how Elon Musk is able to continue as CEO of Tesla while performing his duties with the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump, Portnoy — the founder and owner of Barstool Sports — revealed that the administration wanted him to work in the Department of Commerce under Secretary Howard Lutnick.
But it would have required him to step down from his roles at Barstool Sports.
“I got a call, I don’t know, a couple of months ago, I don’t know when I got the call,” Portnoy said on his “Davey Day Trader Global” show on Tuesday. “And it was like ‘hey, would you have any interest, Dave, in joining the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary under [Howard] Lutnick, or the guy working under him.’
“And they’re like ‘but a caveat of joining the government is somebody would have to run Barstool. You can’t run Barstool and work for the government.’ I guess Elon doesn’t have a specific title, but you kind of want your CEO with the eye on the ball.
“By the way even if I wanted to do that, they never followed up. They’re like ‘let us know if you could find somebody to run Barstool and you’re interested in it. And if you are interested, we’ll schedule a call in a week to go over the next steps.’ That never happened. It was weird.”
He did not reveal who specifically called him with the offer.
Portnoy founded Barstool in 2003, though he sold a majority of the company to The Chernin Group in 2016 before Penn National became majority owner in 2023.
Portnoy bought back the company from Penn National for $1 later in 2023 and has since said he won’t sell Barstool Sports again.
That came just months after Penn National paid $550 million to acquire 100 percent of the company, hoping it would boost its sports betting business.
But it created more problems for Penn National than benefits.
“We got denied licenses because of me,” Portnoy said when he reacquired Barstool Sports. “You name it. So the regulated industry probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the content we make.”
Penn National subsequently made a deal with ESPN to rebrand their failed Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN Bet.
Portnoy is an outspoken supporter of Trump and interviewed him in 2020 at the White House at the end of his first term in office.
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