On Monday, it was revealed that Ohio State had barred Dave Portnoy, the president of Barstool Sports, ahead of the Buckeyes’ significant season opener against Texas. Following this, Portnoy criticized the university after they attempted to deny the ban.
Portnoy was set to make an appearance on Fox’s Saturday’s Big Noon, originally planned to be broadcast from the stadium. However, it quickly became clear that he had been prohibited from attending.
In response to the ban reports, Ohio State announced that the information was inaccurate.
Ross Bjork, the athletics director at Ohio State, condemned the situation and indicated that Fox Sports had chosen to remove Portnoy from their lineup, according to the New York Daily News.
Portnoy, however, vehemently disagrees with this assertion. In a video released on Tuesday, he criticized “Ryan Day and the Ohio Cry,” labeling them as “soft.”
He maintained that Ohio had indeed barred him from the premises and also compelled him and his Outkick shows to cover cancellation fees for certain events and trips. He further claimed to have known about the ban for a week.
“This is a special place for me because I always speak my mind,” Portnoy stated in the video. “Barstool is like an independent pirate ship. We operate for ourselves. That’s why people appreciate us. We’re unfiltered. Now we’ve built this substantial relationship with Fox.”
As a Michigan alum and fan, Portnoy feels this rivalry intensely.
“When one team dominates you for a decade, you tend to act out when your rivals are trampling on you,” he said. “They’ve barred me from the stadium. They’ve prevented our shows from being on campus. It’s disheartening for Fox to be caught in between this.”
He wrapped up by suggesting that Ohio should “own” the situation.
“Just accept it, you know? Don’t hide it,” he remarked. “You didn’t ban me? No, you did. You’re just afraid of Michigan.”
While Ohio officially denies that Portnoy’s ban is related to his support for Michigan, the university’s silence might be telling in its own right. The fact that prominent American universities would go so far as to bar a recognized member of the sports broadcasting community in favor of rival schools seems quite unprofessional.
