One thing is for certain with Dave Portnoy. You never have to wonder where you stand with the Barstool Sports founder.
Portnoy is not shy about explaining why someone, whether it’s an athlete, media member, or business mogul, is either a friend or enemy. In the case of Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO and new co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, there is nothing but bad blood.
‘I hate Bob Iger’
On Wednesday, Portnoy fielded questions from fans, which included one asking for his thoughts on the Lakers being sold to Iger and Josh Kushner for a record-breaking fee.
“I hate Bob Iger. Bob Iger’s a piece of sh*t in my mind,” Portnoy said.
@dailydoseofyak Dave Portnoy HATES New Lakers owner Bob Iger and Says he couldn’t buy team DDTG GLOBAL 8-19-26 in Dave Portnoy X #barstoolsports #daveportnoy #Barstool #Lakers #bobiger ♬ original sound – Yaksnaps
The fan also said they wanted to see people like Portnoy buying teams as opposed to “corporate hacks” like Iger, which led to Portnoy launching into a complaint about Iger’s financial status.
“Well, Iger shouldn’t have more money than me, right? But he does,” Portnoy said. “He has way more, but he’s never built anything. I guess you could argue, but he’s just run companies that existed, whereas I built it. But yeah, I’m not even close to ownership of a team.”
It’s personal for Portnoy
As for the root of Portnoy’s animosity toward the 75-year-old billionaire, he explained that it goes back to when Iger was running Disney and ESPN struck a deal with Penn Entertainment, which at the time ran Barstool.
“Bob Iger tried to fire me from Barstool. That’s just a fact,” Portnoy said, adding that the “whole story” is available in his new book, Cancel Me If You Can.
“When Penn and ESPN did a deal, ESPN is like ‘Great, as long as Dave’s not involved.’ Meanwhile, their entire company’s Barstool.”
Portnoy used ESPN’s promotion of Pat McAfee and agreement with the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast as examples of company being Barstool-friendly.
“They are Barstool. That’s it,” he said.
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