The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 8 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on April 30, 2021.
By Tyler Wicks ‘21
Staff Writer
While COVID-19 has affected many of our favorite small businesses this past year, a glimmer of hope for some has come from an unlikely company. The controversial media juggernaut, Barstool Sports, commonly referred to as Barstool, as of March 31, has raised over $37 million and is giving it away to businesses who need it to keep afloat.
Over 330 businesses have been helped by more than 200,000 supporters of the fund, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The Barstool Fund, aptly named after the company, has seen its fair share of celebrity contributors such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Elon Musk, Kid Rock and Guy Fieri just to name a few.
These donations were certainly not small with Kid Rock donating $100,000, Tom Brady donating $200,000 and Aaron Rodgers matching Barstool Sports founder and CEO Dave Portnoy with $500,000.
Even with these big donations, financial support also comes from Barstool’s massive fan base that is built on a community of sports lovers. Barstool also hosts their own boxing matches called Rough n’ Rowdy, with their most recent event seeing the majority of the fighter’s winnings being contributed to the fund.
While the fund is undoubtedly doing good for those who need it, and without help from other resources, Barstool has stepped in where no one else would.
However, Barstool has had its fair share of controversy in the past. Being accused of normalizing rape culture, hosting the “Black Out Party Tour,” as well as some copyright disputes.
When asking Lake Forest College students about good deeds coming from a controversial place, senior Ellen McClure ’21 said, “I generally support any platform’s initiatives to improve its public image so long as its actions are helpful and effective.”
McClure also states that she is mostly indifferent or disinterested in Barstool Sports due to not being in their target demographic of males and sports fans. This seems to be the consensus of most students; most men and sports fans of any gender tend to enjoy Barstool.
This comes as no surprise, as Barstool’s content outside of sports heavily relies on typical male interests. Such things include gambling, video games and binge drinking are perfect for the target demographic of 18- to 28-year-old men.
However, inclusion of women-hosted and produced shows has expanded the diversity of Barstool fans. Those who are out of their target demographic seem to not really pay attention to the platform, but support Barstool’s efforts in trying to help others.
The Barstool Fund isn’t the only help that the company has been giving. Portnoy found huge success in “One Bite,” and has been helping small businesses since its inception. One Bite is Portnoy’s platform for his famous pizza reviews, rating pizzas on a harsh one to 10 scale, with a score over eight being one of the best pizzas ever.
Recently, while the Barstool crew was in Chicago promoting the release of the Barstool Sportsbook, Portnoy made a stop at Barnaby’s of Northbrook, a staple in the North Shore community for over 40 years. Portnoy seemed blown away by the taste of the pizza, giving it a score of 7.8, a very high score from a tough critic.
Veronika Knych ’23, a sophomore at Lake Forest College, has been working at Barnaby’s for the past two years. When asking Knych how she and Barnaby’s felt about the Portnoy review, she said, “It was insane! My boss had texted me the day when Portnoy had put a picture of a Barnaby’s pizza box on his personal story and that Friday night, business was absolutely insane.”
After Portnoy’s review, business was booming. “After his positive review, every Thursday through Sunday night was packed with people and so many pizzas were ordered that we actually ran out of a few ingredients before the restaurant closed for the night,” said Knych.
What the Barstool Fund and pizza reviews do is help local businesses get support from other Barstool Sports fans from all over the country. What the people in the North Shore community can do to help is order out, or dine-in if possible, and if you like the restaurant tell people about it. Seeing communities support businesses and the people who run those businesses is a teaching that we can all follow.
