ESPN Bet is the brand that took over Barstool Sportsbook, and it rolled out in November 2023 as Penn Entertainment’s new online betting platform using the ESPN name. Penn had already owned Barstool Sports and its sportsbook, but after this shift, the Barstool Sportsbook name was phased out and replaced by ESPN Bet in the states where Penn operates. Before the change, Penn Entertainment had built Barstool Sportsbook by first buying a big stake in Barstool Sports in 2020 and then taking full ownership by 2023.

Portnoy, who founded Barstool in 2003, had sold the company to the gambling company Penn Entertainment for more than $550 million. But when Penn inked a deal with ESPN to launch ESPN bet, it sold the company back to Portnoy for $1. Portnoy and Barstool signed with UTA for representation last year.Jul 17, 2025

What is a Rake Chase? Rake chases are poker promotions which are incentives for players to rake more and reward them generously for that. In contrary to a rake race, you don’t compete against other players , but instead chase your own individual targets. In order to hit the points targets you need to play a certain amount of poker hands or tournaments for real money. As soon as you hit the points requirement, you have secured yourself the amount of money, which was preset for the respective level.

Is Barstool Sportsbook Coming Back? — What to Expect in the Future of Barstool Betting After Barstool Sportsbook shut down in late 2023, many loyal bettors began asking the same question — “Will Barstool ever bring back its sportsbook?” This 2025 industry update from fourseasoncycling.com breaks down what really happened, what insiders have said, and whether a comeback could be on the horizon. 1. The Short Version: Barstool Sportsbook Is Gone — For Now In August 2023, Penn Entertainment sold its ownership stake in Barstool Sports back to its founder, Dave Portnoy, and ended all sportsbook operations under the Barstool name.

Barstool Sports is a fun, no-holds-barred digital media company mixing sports talk, pop culture, and raw opinions. Founded in 2003 by Dave Portnoy as a free Boston newspaper, it now reaches 66 million monthly users, mostly guys aged 18-34, through blogs, podcasts, and videos.wikipedia+1​ Dave started it in Milton, Massachusetts, with gambling ads, fantasy football picks, and jokes about the Red Sox. By 2007, it went fully online, swapping print for viral posts that fans called “Stoolies” loved—like staff pranks and game-day rants.