Dave Portnoy Is The Only 'Natural Owner' For Barstool Sports Long-Term, Says PENN CEO: 'This Is A Win-Win-Win'

“Mad Money” host Jim Cramer sat down with PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) President and CEO Jay Snowden on Wednesday to talk about the company’s new partnership with ESPN and the divestiture of Barstool Sports back to its founder Dave Portnoy, following second-quarter earnings.

What Happened: "Now we had you on with Portnoy when it started, he's electric, he's exciting, I always follow him on X. This deal did not work out, Jay. And it cost a lot of money for you. Could you not get more money for Barstool? Did you a banker? I mean, it just seems like it kinda went away,” Cramer said on CNBC.

"I think it's become very apparent over the course of the last year, year-and-a-half, that … Dave Portnoy is the only natural owner for Barstool Sports long-term,” Snowden replied.

"I also think … it's very clear that this was a win for Barstool; this was a win for PENN, as we move forward with a very exciting partnership. It was a win for ESPN because they have been really focused on finding a partner that has great products, great people and is willing to work with them on ESPN Bet, branded, exclusive. So this is a win-win-win,” the PENN CEO added.

Why It Matters: Penn is selling 100% of Barstool Sports back to Portnoy in exchange for "certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants."

Portnoy paid just $1 to buy back his media brand from Penn, according to regulatory filings.

The transfer back of Barstool Sports comes months after Penn acquired the remaining stake in the sports media company it did not own. In total, Penn paid over $500 million to acquire Barstool Sports through transactions in 2020 and 2023.

"I am never going to sell Barstool Sports, I'll hold it ‘til I die,” Portnoy said after news of PENN’s divestiture. 

Read Next: Disney Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Miss, EPS Beat, 105.7 Million Core Disney+ Subscribers

Photo by PREMIO STOCK on Shutterstock