The Big Lead

Dave Portnoy claims he got a 'weird' job offer from Donald Trump's White House

By J.P. Hoornstra

Dec 14, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dave Portnoy, Bar Stool Sports founder and owner walks along the sidelines before the playing of the 125 Army Navy game at Commanders Field.
Dec 14, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dave Portnoy, Bar Stool Sports founder and owner walks along the sidelines before the playing of the 125 Army Navy game at Commanders Field. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
facebooktwitter

In 2003, Dave Portnoy founded Barstool Sports as a weekly print publication, distributed for free at transit stops in the Boston metropolitan area. Twenty-two years later, he was headhunted for a federal government job in Washington, D.C.

Leave out the two decades in between, and all of this sounds fairly commonplace.

In an era where celebrity and political currency go hand-in-hand, it qualified as news Tuesday when Portnoy announced on his “Davey Day Trader Global” show that he turned down an offer to join President Donald Trump's Department of Commerce.

“I got a call, I don’t know, a couple of months ago, I don’t know when I got the call,” Portnoy said. “And it was like ‘hey, would you have any interest, Dave, in joining the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary under [Howard] Lutnick, or the guy working under him.’

“By the way even if I wanted to do that, they never followed up. They’re like ‘let us know if you could find somebody to run Barstool and you’re interested in it. And if you are interested, we’ll schedule a call in a week to go over the next steps.’ That never happened. It was weird.” 

Portnoy, 47, graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in education. His views on sports, gambling, and sports gambling are well-documented. In recent years, his views on politics have become public as well. In 2024, Portnoy declared it was "too dangerous to vote Republican" on account of their willingness to take away "basic rights."

Perhaps that contributed to his unwillingness to work for a Republican administration. An estimated 222,000 federal job cuts have been announced this year, with more expected as federal agencies implement budget reductions. At least the Department of Commerce was willing and able to make one exception to the trend.

MORE TOP STORIES from The Big Lead
NFL: Geno Smith trade creates QB chaos such as…
NFL: Seahawks overpaying for Sam Darnold and…
NFL: Jets committing to Justin Fields?!
MLB: Rangers stop selling unintentionally offensive hat

Home/Sports Media