Barstool Sports Likely to Leave SiriusXM, Is Spotify Next?

If you’ve followed Barstool Sports recently, aside from the launch of a gambling app, the hiring of Deion Sanders and their CEO being added to WWE’s board, you may also know that there’s been some beef with them and SiriusXM. Once Barstool Sports got settled in to New York City, they signed a deal with the satellite radio provider. Now, with the contract’s ink drying, there seems to be some animosity on both sides. The answer for Barstool Sports’ next move is too obvious.

Thanks to Barstool’s deal with SiriusXM, fans are able to get an inside look at the company on a day-to-day basis and build their relationships with the eclectic cast of characters. However, who needs satellite radio? Fans only purchased a subscription because they want to keep up with their favorite Barstool personalities and be entertained. Radio has been a dying medium for the last few decades, but audio is red hot. There’s still an appetite for audio-related mediums, but in the last five years, we’ve gone far and away from dialing in to a radio.

Podcasts have taken over our ears and are more popular by the day. Barstool Sports currently dominates the podcast space with “Pardon My Take”, “Call Her Daddy” and “Spittin’ Chiclets”. Given that Spotify has been shelling out money to the likes of Joe Rogan, Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian West, the move that makes the most sense is to take out some cash for Portnoy and Co. Unlike the other big names, the audio giant has signed to exclusive deals, Barstool Sports provides an entire library of hours of content for people to tune in to. This will drive subscribers to the site and will allow the flexibility of Barstool Sports to put exclusive content behind the closed doors of Spotify’s premium offerings.

Sure, Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian West are fascinating individuals, but do they provide the rampant fanbase that Barstool Sports has? Could they drive as many subscribers and unique visitors that Portnoy’s crew can bring along? Those who live inside a bubble will disagree, but there’s no denying Barstool Sports is the most powerful engine in media at the moment and Spotify should pay them what they’re worth. They’ll feel like losers if someone else beats them to the chase and they spent all this money on content no one wants to listen to in the long term.