Big 12 Embraces Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports

The Big 12 is welcoming Barstool Sports and its founder Dave Portnoy.

On Wednesday, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and all Big 12 athletic directors held a conference call with Portnoy to discuss coverage and collaboration plans for the rest of the season, Front Office Sports confirmed. Yahoo Sports first reported the meeting.

The conversation touched upon how Portnoy can collaborate with schools in his new role as an analyst on Big Noon Kickoff, the college football pregame show for Fox (a broadcast partner of the Big 12).

The Big 12’s public embrace of Portnoy and Barstool comes just one week after controversy surrounding the presence of Portnoy, a vocal Michigan fan, at Ohio State.

A source close to the meeting told FOS the “fruits” of the discussion between Portnoy and Big 12 officials will be apparent this weekend, when Big Noon Kickoff visits Ames for this Saturday’s Iowa-State-Iowa matchup. But the conversation also covered a wide range of topics beyond Portnoy’s Big Noon appearances, including having Big 12 guests on their FS1 show and other Barstool shows. The group also discussed how to “showcase” other sports, including basketball and women’s sports.

Shortly after the meeting, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard tweeted, “Iowa State is not Ohio State – Dave Portnoy and ⁦@barstoolsports ⁩will be live from the Reiman Plaza Saturday as part of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff.”

The comment would appear to be a direct shot at Ohio State, which barred Portnoy from its stadium and Bartool Sports from its campus last week when Big Noon visited Columbus for the Texas-Ohio State game, FOS reported. 

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork responded to Pollard’s tweet directly on Front Office Sports Today on Wednesday afternoon, saying: “I haven’t seen that tweet. Jamie’s a good friend, I’ve known him for a long time. So I’ll have to check out what he means by ‘Iowa State is not Ohio State.’” Bjork said all plans regarding Portnoy’s presence were up to Fox, and said “You really need to ask Fox.” (Fox has not responded to the claims from OSU and the Big Ten that Fox never intended to bring Portnoy into the stadium.)

Bjork added: “Ohio State props up Big Noon Kickoff. … So if there’s going to be any conversation, Ohio State should be really at the forefront of leading the way in terms of the brand recognition, the Big Ten recognition. If Fox wants to have different programming, that’s up to them.”