MLB Gets Deserved Criticism Over Potential Barstool Sports Broadcasting Partnership

It’s no secret that the major sports leagues are all trying to get into the gambling business. Adam Silver started the conversation when he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in 2014 about legalizing and regulating sports betting. The most recent news came today when the Arizona Cardinals announced a partnership with BetMGM. However, the news didn’t stop there. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post came out with the report that the MLB is in advanced talks with Barstool Sports as a broadcast partner.

A broadcast partnership between the two looks to be focused on the potential of in-game gambling. While the talks have advanced, it is not certain. A source deemed it “50-50” to Marchand.

Once it was announced, it became a trending topic on Twitter. Barstool Sports has a known track record of racism and misogyny. Many expressed their feelings on the news and potential partnership and why it should be a red flag.

Andy Campbell of the Huffington Post recalled a tweet from Yahoo Sports baseball writer Hannah Keyser last June.

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote all about the earned alarm attached to Barstool Sports.

Deadspin’s Chuck Modi shared a video of some of the racially insensitive moments shared on their platform.

ESPN’s Joon Lee shared about how the deal could alienate some of their growing demographics of female fans. In an effort to bring younger fans to America’s past time, the history of their potential partner may harm their efforts to grow. Growth that the league desperately needs.

Barstool Sports Misogyny

Barstool’s record of misogyny is well documented. A history of sexual harassment, doxing, and cyberbullying was documented by The Daily Beast. Barstool employees are required to sign an offensive speech waiver, a waiver that was shared by Elika Sadeghi on Twitter. To which Barstool President Dave Portnoy responded by calling her a fraud.

In the waiver, “women who work there, could not object to “nudity, sexual scenarios, racial epithets, suggestive gestures, profanity and stereotyping.” After a female intern reported sexual harassment from a male intern, Portnoy claimed, “Subtle sexual harassment is fine and dandy.”

The list of red flags for Barstool Sports is much longer than it should be. Their audience is huge and loud and something that potential partners often look past. But should they, and should the MLB?

Past language used by Barstool president Dave Portnoy is especially egregious. Away from the racist rhetoric in the above videos, his language towards women, or as he commonly refers to them “chicks” should prevent partnerships like the ones being discussed with the MLB.

Portnoy, on the record, has said highly alarming things like, “I’d like to reiterate that we don’t condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties in mid-January. However if a chick passes out that’s a grey area though.” Or when he later went further with a similar statement saying, “Even though I never condone rape, if you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right? I mean skinny jeans don’t look good on size 0 and 2 chicks, never mind size 6′s.”

As illustrated by Joon Lee above, it is almost impossible for this partnership to not push away some of its new female fans. However, with statements like that and the history of the problematic publication Barstool Sports, more than its female viewers may be pushed away as a result.

Broadcast Opening

Recently, ESPN decided to drop their regular midweek nationally televised game. Which leaves the MLB needing to find a buyer. Barstool has been longing for an opportunity to have more opportunities in the broadcasting space. They made steps after buying the rights to be the title sponsor and broadcaster for College Footballs Arizona Bowl. Now their sights are on the major sports leagues, but the big question is how can a major-league look past the moral dilemmas their potential partner brings?

They do have a large and particularly young following. A demographic that is important for each major sports league but particularly baseball. They also have more significant access to sports betting than current standing potential partners. Barstool is vying to become the company at the forefront of the merge of betting and broadcasting.

It is important to note that if a deal is completed and it is nonexclusive, the games would likely still be broadcast on RSNs, making Barstool’s stream an alternative broadcast. 

The MLB?

The MLB is a particularly curious partner for Barstool sports. Major League Baseball currently has a number of sexual assault investigations happening, they have recently had to make statements on racism, and cyberbullying from the “stoolies” went as far to force Mets owner Steve Cohen off of Twitter from their relentless attacks.

The President of Barstool Sports, a potential partner of the MLB, led an online attack against the owner of an MLB club. Now they may partner with the same person and audience sending death threats to the Cohen family? The job of Rob Manfred is to protect the interest of the MLB owners, and a partnership with a morally bankrupt “news organization” does little to do so.

Barstool getting into the broadcast game is seemingly inevitable at this point, but should they be being considered? Looking at everything listed here, probably not. However, the laundry list of problematic behavior by Barstool and its staff goes beyond that mentioned in this article.

The desire to gain a younger base for Major League Baseball is both necessary and noble. However, no league should lower its moral and journalistic standards to the bar of Barstool Sports. Then again, how often can we depend on Rob Manfred make the moral decision?

For more visit Talking Points Sports.