MLB, Barstool Sports Talking About Broadcast Deal

Bartool's David Portnoy

Major League Baseball and Barstool Sports have had significant negotiations about having national midweek games on the site’s platforms, The NY Post has learned.

The discussions are what Barstool founder Dave Portnoy was referring to last week when he mentioned his company has had talks with “major leagues.”

MLB and Barstool potentially could team up to create a new type of broadcast with a focus on in-game gambling.

The talks have started recently, and while they have picked up steam, an agreement is not yet a certainty. One source deemed it “50-50.”

Major League Baseball currently has national TV deals with Fox, Turner and ESPN. As part of its new ESPN contract that begins next year, the network dropped regular, non-exclusive Monday and Wednesday games, leaving MLB trying to find a buyer for that inventory. Turner will move its regular-season games to Tuesday, from Sunday, beginning next season.

YouTube is a possibility for the midweek national games, as it already has streamed MLB games for three years. Peacock just did a weekend series last month, as well, and is seen as a contender.

But Barstool sticks out because it has the connection to a younger audience MLB craves and could possibly create buzz with its alternative delivery approach. Barstool would be expected to deliver the games through its website, Instagram and Twitter accounts, among others.

Barstool’s parent company, Penn National, just bought the Canadian betting app, theScore. It has sportsbooks in several states with the list growing. And now it is moving into live rights.