Sports media company Barstool Sports is making a big push in the NCAA football market.
What Happened: Barstool Sports, which is partially owned by Penn National Gaming Inc PENN, will become the sponsor and broadcast partner of the Arizona Bowl.
The Barstool Arizona Bowl will be played on Dec. 31, 2021, at the University of Arizona stadium. The bowl features teams from the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference.
ViacomCBS Inc VIAC unit CBS Sports was the previous broadcaster of the game.
Related Link: 4 Reasons To Like Penn National: Cost Savings, Sports Betting Margins And More
Why It’s Important: This marks the first broadcast deal for Barstool Sports and could signal a further push into content.
“We’re not just sponsoring a bowl game, we have exclusive broadcast rights,” said founder Dave Portnoy, also highlighting the control of the halftime show and national anthem. “We are getting into the live sports broadcast game.”
The move could create another competitor to Walt Disney Co DIS unit ESPN and traditional sports broadcasters who have seen increasing demand for content rights deals from newcomers like Amazon.com Inc AMZN and Apple Inc AAPL.
The bowl game in Arizona could also help with the launch of the Barstool Sportsbook app, which will launch in the state in the fall, as the state legalizes online sports betting.
Price Action: PENN shares are down 3% to $70.86 on Tuesday.
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