Can you buy Barstool Sports Stock? Not directly, no. This article explains the current ownership structure and how you can buy equity in the company indirectly.
Open an account with a commission-free online broker such as M1 Finance to get started investing. Get access to select IPOs with online brokers that offer free IPO investing to eligible customers.
Barstool Sports Stock News
02/23/2022: Dave Portnoy: DraftKings And Penn National Should Merge Sportsbooks
02/06/2020: Penn National’s investment in Barstool Sports is ‘going to be worth a ton,’ investor says
01/29/2020: Penn National Gaming to buy a stake in Barstool for $163 million
01/07/2016: Chernin Group Acquires Majority Stake of Barstool Sports Site
What is Barstool Sports?
Barstool Sports is a sports and lifestyle media company with diversified entertainment assets. Properties include its website, podcasts, radio content, sportsbook (betting), branded bars, a boxing promotion company, videos, and various social media presence.
Its website features a variety of content subjects, including sports, pop culture, “chicks, and humor targeted toward young men.
65% of its audience is under the age of 45, and 38% is under the age of 34, according to an investor report.
The company was founded in 2003 by David Portnoy in the Boston metro area. He remains “Chief of Content.” Erika Nardini is now CEO.
Barstool Sport is headquartered in New York City.
Is Barstool Sports Stock Publicly Traded?
No, Barstool Sports stock is not publicly traded.
However, you can own the company indirectly by buying stock in Penn National Gaming (PENN).
In January 2020, Penn National Gaming purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports for $168 million, valuing the company at $450 million.
The deal includes warrants that would give Penn a 50%+ stake if exercised after three years and the option to buy out the remainder of the company.
The deal gives Penn exclusive access to Barstool’s audience to market sports betting for the next 40 years.
The Chernin Group, which made investments in 2016 and 2018, reduced its ownership stake from 60% to 36% in the deal. The remainder of shares, 28%, continue to be held by Barstool Sports employees.
Will there be a Barstool Sports IPO?
Probably not.
It’s looking more likely that Penn National Gaming will eventually exercise warrants and take a majority stake or complete a full takeover in the coming years.
Penn National Gaming is already a publicly-traded company.
Therefore, you can own Penn National Gaming today to indirectly own a part of Barstool Sports.
Popular Barstool Sports Twitter Handles
Barstool Sports Twitter — @barstoolsports
Dave Portnoy Twitter (El Pres Twitter) — @stoolpresidente
Big Cat Twitter — @BarstoolBigCat
KFC Twitter — @KFCBarstool
Pardon My Take Twitter (Podcast) — @PardonMyTake
Spittin Chiclets Twitter (Podcast) — @spittinchiclets
How to Buy Barstool Sports Stock (Two Potential Ways)
Since Barstool Sports is privately held, it is challenging to acquire direct stock ownership of the company. Portnoy and early employees likely maintain most of the 28% stake not owned by The Chernin Group or Penn National Gaming.
Therefore, the simplest way to own Barstool Sports equity is by owning Penn National Gaming stock.
The Penn National Gaming stock symbol is “PENN“.
I recommend M1 Finance (review) to buy individual stocks and ETFs (more below).
As of writing (August 2021), Penn National Gaming’s market cap is around $10 billion, up from about $3 billion at the time of the Barstool Sports acquisition (January 2020).
Barstool was valued at $450 million when it was acquired, or about 15% of PENN’s market cap.
It’s unclear in the latest PENN SEC filings how much Barstool Sports is contributing to overall revenues at this time.
Nonetheless, PENN is the easiest way to own a small piece of Barstool Sports.
Another potential, albeit, unlikely way to own Barstool Sports stock is through a secondary equity marketplace.
Founders, early employees, and investors sometimes find themselves in a difficult predicament. They own valuable shares of a company that doesn’t trade publicly.
Because of their stock holdings, these shareholders might have multi-million dollar net worths, but the stock is not liquid because it doesn’t trade on an exchange.
A few platforms have evolved to give these individuals a way to liquidate their holding before an IPO or full takeover (in PENN’s case).
Some of the more prominent sites include Linqto, EquityZen, and Forge.
Both sites bring liquidity to an otherwise illiquid asset. Accredited investors (those with invested assets > $1,000,000) may join these sites and attempt to buy these companies’ shares when they become available.
The shares are only offered to accredited investors because the company’s financials are not publicly filed with regulators yet, increasing the investors’ risk.
For high-profile companies, demand is high, lowering your chances of acquiring shares. The author considers this a low-likelihood way to acquire shares of Barstool Sports stock.
However, some readers have written to share success stories buying shares of other companies this way.
Best Brokers to Own Barstool Sports Equity via PENN
What is the best online brokerage for buying Penn National Gaming stock?
If you want to attempt to participate in IPOs, see my complete list of best brokers for IPO investing here.
Joining a broker that offers access to IPOs does not guarantee a share allocation, especially in high-demand IPOs. You are probably better off waiting for the company to start trading after the IPO.
Long-term buy-and-hold investors may prefer a broker not as geared toward frequent trading.
As an individual investor, you’ll want to open an account with a commission-free online broker. That way, you’ll invest most of your money instead of waste it on fees.
I’m a big fan of the online brokerage M1 Finance. M1 Finance is a reliable and robust, no-fee online broker for beginner to advanced investors.
As your investing skills and portfolio mature, M1 is one of the best platforms to scale.
Investing in stocks is 100% free on the platform. They also offer an integrated checking account and low borrowing rates. Read my complete M1 Finance review here.
The platform is more intuitive than traditional brokers because it’s built on a modern technology platform. You create portfolio “pies” that contain all the stocks and ETFs you want to own and in what percentages. Add Databricks stock to your portfolio pie once it begins trading.
M1 Finance does not offer IPO access. But it’s my favorite for long-term investing, which is my preferred strategy for disruptive IPO companies.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author does not own any stocks mentioned in this article.