PENN is Portnoy and Portnoy is PENN.
PENN Entertainment exercised its option to fully own Barstool Sports on Wednesday, bringing the valuation of Dave Portnoy’s upstart media outlet to $450 million and solidifying its controversial founder as the definitive face of PENN’s sports wagering platform, Barstool Sportsbook.
PENN made the announcement via an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When known as Penn National Gaming in February 2020, it initially closed on a deal to purchase 36% of Barstool Sports for $163 million. with an option for eventual full ownership. That deal lifted Portnoy from burgeoning national sports media presence into the sports wagering mainstream as the key promoter of a major sportsbook.
Per its quarterly report, filed with the SEC on Aug. 4, PENN had announced its decision to purchase $62 million worth of Barstool Sports common stock to raise its ownership to 50% prior to Wednesday’s filing.