NEW YORK, NY – Dave Portnoy. You either love him or hate him and thankfully for his own success, most people love him. It’s usually the douchebags of the world who hate him. Those who hate him are typically the “big guy” looking to hurt the little guys of America. It’s always been that way. Portnoy started his Barstool Sports as a small local newspaper and he and his team slung newspapers full of quirky sports and gambling stories until they started getting a large college following online.
That grew into a phenomenon that saw Barstool grow tremendously. Portnoy found himself competing head to head against the big guys in the sports news and sports gaming industry and while he made a lot of friends along the way, he also made some enemies. “The Suits”, as Portnoy calls them are out to ‘fuck’ the little guy. Whether it’s going against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell or in his most recent assault, the “Wall Street fat cats”, Portnoy has always been on the side of the people, which is why the people follow him. It’s why they buy his merch and why Barstool has brought the next generation into the new age of sports and entertainment media.
During the pandemic, Portnoy, known by most outside the diehard Barstool fanbase as “the pizza review guy” began helping the frozen pizza industry. Portnoy’s passion for his fans and for his work is evident in everything he does and it showed during the pandemic lockdown last spring. Stuck in his Manhattan apartment, he began giving love to the frozen pizza industry and sales skyrocketed for everyone, except the brand that told him to essentially ‘fuck off’. That was Jack’s Pizza.
I didn’t really understand the impact Dave had on the frozen pizza industry until the day I went to BJ’s in Hamilton Township and happened to look at the frozen pizza section. The entire display was empty. Not a frozen pizza to be found. Except for Jack’s. That shelf was full. Not a box moved off the shelf. If you don’t know the Jack’s story, here it is.
After the lockdown ended, Portnoy got right back on the road supporting small businesses around the country with his in-person pizza reviews, this time emerging as a kinder and gentler reviewer, trying to help every business he visited in some way.
In late 2020, Portnoy kicked his support of local business after hearing pandemic horror stories on the road. He partnered with the 30-day fund and began giving out money to small businesses that have absolutely been crushed by the government lockdowns and restrictions caused by the pandemic.
He has since raised $33 million to help small businesses and treats each recipient as it was the first and only, with kindness, compassion and total support and attention.
One of Portnoy’s 34,000 side jobs as President of Barstool Sports is online day trading. Portnoy’s daily show, Davey Daytrader Global (DDTG) has been a cult hit among the average Joe daytraders trying to figure out how to make a buck like the big guys and suits on Wall Street.
Enter Reddit, GameStop, and the Wall Street hedge fund managers.
This week, Portnoy was the first guy in the media following the madness of the planned and coordinated stock buys of Nokia, Gamestop and a few others to take advantage of the hedgefund’s plan to short sell those stocks. Waiting to strike, the average joe “retail traders” jumped on the opportunity and foiled their plan, buying up shares of shorted stocks and pushing stock prices through the roof. Reports today claim those hedge funds may have lost upwards of $70 billion.
On day two, Wall Street stepped in to save the hedge funds and blocked trading for the little guys, causing some to lose money and lose the opportunity to make money. Wall Street said it was done to “save the little guy”. Many suits on Wall Street cheered the defeat of the little guy as they gassed up their yachts for the weekend celebration.
Enter Dave Portnoy, who stepped in to defend the small guy. In the past 24 hours, Portnoy has made appearances on most major cable news networks calling for the arrest of those who stopped the trading. Today, Portnoy is the unofficial spokesperson for the Wall Street little guys drawing the necessary attention to the debacle to make sure the interests of the little guys are being heard and not forgotten.
Emergency Press Conference – Everybody On Wall Street Who Had A Hand In Today’s Crime Needs To Go To Prison pic.twitter.com/aKr8aPbB3Z
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) January 28, 2021