Barstool Sports Reportedly Loses Bid For NY Sports Gaming License Amid Founder Sex ‘Scandal’

There’s no such thing as ‘coincidence‘.

Late last week, Business Insider unleashed a story claiming Barstool Group founder Dave Portnoy about allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

The report details an alleged time between Portnoy and a 20-year-old woman who said she felt like she was treated as a “human sex doll,” and that their sex was so allegedly “rough” it felt like she “was being raped.” According to the report, at one point she was allegedly “screaming in pain.”

Portnoy responded to the accusations immediately saying they were “100 percent false” and that the hookup was “100 percent consensual,” :

He admitted people will believe what they want to believe and said “it sucks to be attacked like this.” He also said he has “a target on [his] back” and that the experience “is eye-opening.”

“Cancel culture has been coming for me for decades, this is just the next iteration,” Portnoy explained.

“The woke cancel culture wants to cancel me … I’m scared now.”

His denials are also backed by police statements that they were not investigating Portnoy over any of the accusations:

FROM NBC NEWS

Apparently the great Julia Black had time to contact every girl I’ve ever spoken with but not to reach out to the Nantucket police to verify her sources. Color me shocked! pic.twitter.com/Bt51Iy1ElJ

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 5, 2021

But that didn’t matter to the mob. And now, coincidentally, NYPost reports that the state gaming commission is meeting Monday to select two groups to offer mobile or online sports betting in New York – but the team that includes rapper-mogul Jay-Z, Fanatics and Barstool’s Sportsbook will not be one of them.

A gaming source said Monday the Jay-Z, Barstool group was not selected for a license. It ranked fourth behind another group, Bet 365, the insider said.

This is a major loss for Barstool since, once officials give the green light, New York expects $10 billion in sports betting next year, with the nearly $1 billion in expected profits split between the state and the operators.

Of course, the timing of the release of the sex scandal story (which reportedly has been under development for nine months) and the gaming license review perhaps reveals more about BI’s new activist business model than it does about the Barstool Group’s ability to do the job.