Barstool Sports $5 Billion Valuation - Explained
Barstool Sports is a digital media and betting company that produces content focused on sports and pop culture. Founded by David Portnoy in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts, the company's two primary investors are Chernin Group and Penn National Gaming.
Barstool Sports is currently valued at $450 Million after its deal with Penn National Gaming, which purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $163 million. They also have an option to fully acquire the company within 3 years. Currently, Penn National only has a year to acquire the company but at what valuation should they purchase?
If we compare Barstool Sports valuations as a media company -
- Vox Media (Worth - $10 Billion)
Vox Media is the parent company of New York Post, The Verge, Vox, Complex, etc. Vox is currently on a buying spree and planning to list on the stock market next year.
- Buzzfeed (Worth - $800 Million)
After their horrible debut in the stock market, Buzzfeed valuation has dipped from $2 Billion
- VICE Media (Worth - $5.7 Billion)
Vice is probably the most successful media company in attracting organic viewers to their website and tv shows. Their annual revenue is close to $1 Billion (Last report - 2016)
As you can see, Barstool Sports is highly undervalued if we compare them as a media company.
Let's also compare them in Google Trend...
As you can see, The top search query is New Post's Vox Media, In second place we have - Buzzfeed which recently got listed, and then surprisingly Barstool Sports who passed Vice Meda by 14 points.
Reminder: All the other companies are focusing on attracting a worldwide audience, whereas Barstool Sports focuses only on the US which gives it a lot of space to grow.
Barstool Sports is also a betting company if we compare it to other betting companies like FanDuel (Worth - $1 Billion), DraftKings ($16 Billion).
Barstool Sports is far more popular than its competitors but lacks in terms of revenue. But unlike DraftKing and Fanduel, They are still growing their betting business with help of Penn National Gaming. And recently opened a Barstool Sports Bar in Chicago.
Barstool's annual revenue is $150 Million (Last report -2020) which it earns from various sponsorships, ads on its website, merchandise, etc. It pulls 1B+ monthly visitors across - Digital, Social, Audio, and Video. This makes them one of the most popular social media company after 9Gags and F*ck Jerry. But the thing which makes them the most unique is their fans who religiously watch them for years.
At last, Barstool Sports is a media and betting company with over 140M+ followers and 105+ original homegrown shows and podcasts which get over 1B+ monthly views.
Barstool Sports should have a valuation of over $5 Billion.
Even Dave Portnoy, Founder of Barstool Sports agrees the company is highly undervalued and should be valued somewhere around $4.5 Billion.
