Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy Claims Sex Tape Damaging Penn National Stock

Posted on: April 7, 2021, 10:50h. 

Last updated on: April 7, 2021, 03:20h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy claims Penn National Gaming (PNG) shares are down dueto a recently leaked sex tape of his. 

Barstool Sports Penn National Dave Portnoy
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, is seen here giving an interview last December. The Penn National shareholder feels his leaked sex tape is hurting the casino operator’s stock price. (Image: Getty)

PNG acquired a 36 percent ownership stake in Portnoy’s Barstool media and sports betting empire in January of 2020 for $163 million. That valued Barstool at $450 million. The Pennsylvania-headquartered regional casino operator has agreed to eventually increase its Barstool position to 50 percent with another $62 million investment.

Portnoy’s compensation in the deal came in cash and stock. According to his own Twitter bio, he is heavily invested in PNG. “I own a ton of Penn stock,” he explains.

The leaked sex tape involving himself is the third Portnoy claims can now be found on the internet. The outspoken businessman contends that the lewd footage is the cause of Penn’s recent slide (NASDAQ: PENN). Penn shares have dropped from $136 on March 15, to close at $104 yesterday — a 23.5 percent drop. 

Penn’s stock is f***ing down because there’s a sex tape of me?” Portnoy asked in an expletive-filled Twitter video. “So, I have sex. People f***ing know that.” 

“Somebody committing a crime by leaking an old video of sex between two consenting adults seems like a dumb reason for a stock to go down,” Portnoy told Fox Business yesterday. “As far as I know, nobody would exist on Earth without intercourse. It was never meant for public consumption.”

Portnoy nonetheless feels Penn’s stock dip presents investors with a sound buying opportunity. It’s worth noting that his Twitter bio additionally includes the disclosure, “I’m not a financial advisor. Don’t trust anything I say about stocks.”

Tape Unlikely Impacting Shares

Financial experts say a sex tape involving a key figure in a Penn National subsidiary is the unlikely culprit for the parent organization seeing its value decrease by nearly a quarter. 

“There’s no proven connection between Portnoy’s sex tape and Penn’s stock sinking,” said FOX Business’ Angelica Stabile.

Todd Shriber, Casino.org’s financial reporter, whose career began with Bloomberg News, agrees. Shriber believes Penn shares have tumbled due to the recent discussions regarding mobile sports betting in New York.

Last night, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and state lawmakers finally came to terms on how to authorize mobile sports betting in the state. Currently, sports betting is limited to in-person betting at upstate commercial and tribal casinos.

Penn shares were up nearly one percent today in early afternoon trading.

Sports Betting Enthusiasm

Penn National wasn’t the only publicly traded company invested in the sports betting space to see shares recently pull back. FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment and DraftKings both experienced stock retreats at the end of last month.

But analysts overwhelmingly remain bullish on the firms. Bank of America reported this week that the NCAA men’s March Madness basketball tournament, which concluded Monday night, served as a catalyst for millions of Americans downloading and signing up for sports betting platforms. 

BoA says FanDuel and DraftKings combined for 64 percent of the new account downloads. BetMGM placed third with 12 percent, and Barstool Sports third in the “high single-digits.” 

Shriber noted that Barstool’s performance was “impressive,” considering the platform is live in only three states.