Barstool Sports: Controversially Entertaining? Or Entertainingly Controversial?
Upon visiting barstoolsports.com, the reader is greeted with pictures of sexy, hardly dressed women, advertisements for Boston Red Sox shirts, a schedule of their “blackout” party tour and a collection of viral videos. Barstool Sports is one of the most popular “sports” blogs on the internet right now receiving almost 300,000 hits per day (freewebsitereport.org). The site is undoubtedly geared toward a male audience and covers stories from pop culture, sports (obviously), and, among other things, recently leaking celebrity sex tape videos. Is the website too provocative for a general audience? There has been plenty of debate on this topic and the creator of the site has been under great scrutiny since the site has been up and running.
The website was first started as a gambling directory, and was in fact not a website at all, by creator David Portnoy. After graduating from the University of Michigan, he got a job in sales. Quickly he realized this was not his calling. After bailing on his “day job” he decided he wanted to get involved in sports betting. He created Barstool Sports as a four page black and white newspaper style reader that included game times, spreads and fantasy sports information; Essentially the sports betters’ handbook. Overtime, however, El Presidente’s business plan changed drastically.
Barstool quickly took a different approach to entertainment media with Portnoy’s quirky anecdotes found in his daily blog posts. The stories vary as do the readers. On any given day readers are likely to encounter posts about sports, women, heroic dogs, something degrading Lebron James, several videos where any number of individuals are injured, and more women and more sports. Most times, the women aren’t wearing much, if anything at all. This is a cause for a lot of debate throughout the media outlets in the Boston and surrounding areas. There is no block on the site, no ask of age or warning, or anything. The blog is as accessible to a 12 year old child as it is to a 40-something year old. How does one govern what is accessible?
The website gets about 1.4 million viewers per month (freewebsitereport.org). That is an astonishing amount, and it is more than many other national websites such as GQ or Rolling Stone. However, GQ and Rolling Stone don’t post a “Smokeshow of the day”. This specific posting is daily and highlights a local female from a college in the Boston area and posts different pictures displaying her “beauty”. It is a Barstool staple now. With so much traffic, however, should there be warnings to use discretion or age limits?
Feminists have voiced their disdain for the site many times, and many times Portnoy has responded in his crude, honest and straight-forward attitude. One cannot be surprised, necessarily, that feminist groups have disagreed with his approach. His site could easily be viewed as degrading towards women and patting the “common man” on the back. If you want to change the page of the site to see older posts, one must click a link, “Keep Reading Bitches.”
El Pres created a game within his website called “Guess That Ass.” Every day he crops out a part of a picture where a famous actress, singer, athlete, dancer, etc. and shows just her rear end. Readers are prompted to guess who it is and, upon clicking another link, are guided to a page of additional pictures showing much more than the original portion. This has become a Barstool necessity, one that readers likely look forward to. Of course, feminists are likely to disagree with El Pres’ game. Many think it’s degrading and disgusting.
Are feminists out of line for voicing their opinion? That is up for debate; However, El Pres persists in his postings and musings, regardless of readers’ reactions. In a recent post on barstoolsports.com, he writes, “95% of college students love us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Gayballs, sluts, trannies, bros etc. If you have a sense of humor you like the Stool. If you’re some uptight ugly feminist who thinks skinny Pepsi cans are sexist and MILF pants are too revealing than you probably hate us and hate life. But those people should be murdered anyways. Fuck em.”
A good example of what barstool represents and presents to their readers can be summed up in a recent post from El Presidente. He writes, “There are a handful of what I would call eternal questions here at Barstool Sports. Questions that have been asked since the advent of time. Does Pres really fuck the groupies? Does Barstool Sports make money? How does Cheeseboy look himself in the mirror at night? Why do you hate Jenna Marbles? And finally is Tim Tebow really a virgin?” These are the uncommon topics for the common man to ponder. Do people really care about these questions? That is why the site is so controversial to some, but to the readers it is mind boggling. The site is fun, that’s all. No one really cares, it’s just a place to talk about outrageous things, have a laugh and get through another day sitting in a classroom or at a cubicle or on the toilet while taking care of more serious business.
It appears Portnoy tries to go over the top and incorporate a shock factor into his blog which evidently keeps readers coming back. The advertisements on his site range from Coors Light beer, to varying restaurants in the Boston area, to a prominent Ford dealership; he is doing something right. Opinions vary on whether the website is acceptable or even funny. Steve M. a BSU student is on the site daily, reading Portnoy’s posts along with other writers for the site. He scrolls through the daily musings chuckling to himself at the apparent brazen outrageousness of it all. Another reader, Erik W., a BSU graduate from Easton, MA, explains, “I read it all the time. It's hilarious. It is barely reliable for sports but I don't go there for sports info.” Erik is insinuating that Barstool is more than just a sports website; in fact it is hardly a sports website. It is a metaphorical place for common guys to go and joke with their buddies. Unfortunately, the content of the site is available for all to see. Feminists and Chauvinists can read the outlandish musings, but there is something that people do not understand.
The site is intended to be almost a locker room on the internet to gawk at women and laugh about ridiculous topics, whether they make sense or not is really beside the point as far as El Pres is concerned. Adam B. from Brockton, MA, has a great explanation as to why the website would be appealing to the average guy. He says, “I read it. I went to school with some of the ‘smoke shows [of the day].’ I like toilet humor, and the videos and stories they offer allow me to laugh at others when I'm feeling blue.”
Naturally, there is certainly negative reactions towards the website as well. Gavin D., a Dean College graduate, responds, “[I] don't read it. The guy that runs it is a creep and is over compensating for something.” There is a school of thought that El Pres is a little… ‘off’, more so than his website would display. Another reader, Stephen C., a UMass Amherst student from Mansfield, MA, offers an interesting opinion, “I read it, I think el press should be in prison for being a pedophile, and I don't get any of my sports news from there. I still read it but I'm not happy with myself that I do.” Alysa S., another BSU graduate from Easton, MA offers the ideal female stoolie opinion, one that El Pres would probably drool over. She reasons, “I read it, I think it's hilarious and would take being ‘objectified’ on it (the site) as a compliment if anything.” Alysa agrees that El Pres may objectify women, but she sees it as any stoolie would, a compliment. The opinions differ, but one truth remains evident that Barstool Sports is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Those faint of heart should steer in an opposite direction than barstoolsports.com, maybe something like The New Yorker may be a little but more politically correct for them regarding news, sports and the like. But the light-hearted college students, male and female find themselves on the website throughout the semester to catch a break from studying and get a laugh. Kim B., a University of New Hampshire student from Norton, MA, offers another female opinion, “I've been reading it for like 2 years! I usually think most of his stuff is funny, but the quality of his writing and sports reviews are not great. And sometimes his stuff is offensive.” Marissa, a current BSU student simply states, “I LOVE BARSTOOL.”
The devoted fans and daily readers of the site, AKA the “stoolies” come out to support the site and it’s creator in droves whenever called upon. When El Pres posted a picture of Tom Brady’s son playing naked on a beach and compared his private parts to a howitzer it received national attention on news stations all over the country. One journalism professor from a local college only knows about the blog because of this story, she asked of El Pres, “Is that the idiot who put up naked pictures of Brady’s kid?” When the story broke, Barstool supporters came out of the woodwork to back their leader and contend that he was not in the wrong. A debate could go on for days about whether he was right or wrong, but the point is that undeniable support is there regardless.
Additionally, the slogan for the website, “Viva La Stool” is recognizable to any college student. In fact, every week or two there is a post on the blog highlighting a group of pictures sent in to El Pres where any number of devoted stoolies hold a type of sign celebrating the site. Sometimes the signs are made of a broken 30 pack of Busch Light beer, the slogan written in a Sharpie marker, and sometimes the signs are more provocative like the words “viva” and “la” written on each of a woman’s bare breast, and the word “stool” displayed in larger font across her stomach.
The signs vary as do the opinions of the website as a whole, but the support is unwavering. El Pres is doing something right. He has found a niche and it is working wonders. Whether you agree with the content of the website or not, one this is certain, El Pres made Barstool a driving force in Boston media, and has grown it into the internet empire that it is now, and will likely continue to be so. Currently, Barstool Sports has writers covering news and stories in Philadelphia, New York and Boston. El Pres hopes to shock Chicago next.