Fox Sports has added to its ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ desk for the upcoming college football season in a big way.
On July 17, Barstool founder and media personality Dave Portnoy announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he is joining the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ pregame show as an analyst.
The official announcement from Portnoy comes a day after multiple reports mentioned that Fox Sports was in talks to Portnoy to its college football pregame show lineup, featuring Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram, Chris Fallica and Rob Stone. The deal also includes Barstool content airing on Fox Sports 1, a first for the content company.
Portnoy went onto X (formerly Twitter) shortly after initial reports on July 16 and quote-tweeted Front Office Sports’ story, saying it is ‘nothing more than rumors at this point.’
‘These are nothing more than rumors at this point,’ Portnoy wrote on X on July 16. ‘But all the crying from Columbus is making me feel like it’s Thanksgiving Day weekend again and Michigan is pounding a hapless Buckeye team into the mud for the billionth straight year.’
The addition of Portnoy joining ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ is a big get by Fox Sports, given his popularity on his social media platforms, which includes his One Bite Pizza reviews. In an appearance on Barstool’s ‘The Unnamed Show’ on July 17, Portnoy mentioned that Barstool will still do its own ‘Barstool College Football Show’ during the college football season and it will lead into ‘Big Noon Kickoff.’ He also mentioned that the partnership between Barstool and Fox Sports will also include the creation of a new Barstool daily show from 8 to 10 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
‘It will be like a Barstool breakfast show. Barstool Wakeup. I’m going to do Mondays. We’ll have an office in Chicago. There will be different characters (on). They want a taste of the Barstool world,’ Portnoy said on ‘The Unnamed Show’ of the new daily show.
The acquisition of Portnoy and Barstool comes three days after The Athletic reported a lineup shakeup at Fox Sports, which included the removal of Joy Taylor and her show, “Speak’ — along with ‘Breakfast Ball’ and ‘The Facility’ — from the network’s weekday lineup.
The hire also mirrors a programmatic strategy by ESPN, which added retired NFL punter-turned-media personality Pat McAfee to the network’s ‘College GameDay’ lineup in 2022. Portnoy, a Michigan graduate, would not be new to the college football world or the pregame show platform, should the deal become finalized: He is a part of Barstool Sports’ eponymously named ‘Barstool College Football Show.’
‘Big Noon Kickoff’ is set to travel to Columbus Ohio Stadium to kick off the upcoming 2025 college football season for Ohio State vs. Texas in Week 1 on Saturday, Aug. 30.
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(This story has been updated with new information)