Barstool Sportsbook has risen to prominence in the United States because of the platform’s relationship with Dave Portnoy’s media company. The site launched in Colorado on August 9, and it has seen countless registrations in the past few days.
The sportsbook has pushed various promotions to attract people to the platform, and it has worked in Colorado. Colorado is a vast sports betting market that is turning into a top-tier state along with New Jersey and Nevada. Barstool Sportsbook adds depth to the list in the state along with FanDuel and DraftKings.
Details of the Launch
Barstool Sportsbook launching in Colorado was big news throughout the betting industry. The sportsbook gained market access through a deal with the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk. The Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk has been owned since 2018.
Kevin Dawn, the retail sportsbook manager, spoke about the excitement surrounding the launch. He said:
“The biggest differentiator from us and everybody else is from that Stoolie crowd. They’re going to have the opportunity to make some of those daily bets with some of those personalities, whether Dave or Big Cat. You’ll have that opportunity to go with or against them.”
The Stoolie fan base is a quality that no sportsbook will ever be able to match. Dave Portnoy and his content creators are celebrities throughout the sports world. The Barstool branding around Penn National’s sportsbook will make this book superior to most platforms as sports betting continues to sweep the nation.
Penn National was able to brand the sportsbook as a Barstool after buying a stake in the company. There are 24 licensed sportsbooks in Colorado, so the site will have to earn its market share. Although, this will not be as hard as it is for many news books that launch in the state.
Legal sports betting launched in Colorado on May 1, 2020, and the collective handle has risen over $2.3 billion in the first year of legal betting. Most of the money was wagered online, but there have been bettors gaming at the casinos in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek.
Barstool’s Meteoric Rise
Barstool Sportsbook was founded in Massachusetts by Dave Portnoy in 2003. The company found its niche in the young adult age group, a prime betting group in the United States. Portnoy grew the company from irrelevant to a media empire in a relatively short time.
Barstool has become a mainstream media outlet that people turn to over ESPN, Fox Sports, and NBC in the past five years. This success has translated to the sports betting platform. Once Penn National purchased a stake in Barstool in 2020, it allowed the company to soar.
The sportsbook is live in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado. The sportsbook will be live in New Jersey, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arizona by the end of the summer.
An in-person Barstool Sportsbook has been live at the Ameristar since last year, so the company will look to expand its following online. Barstool is projected to compete with DraftKings and FanDuel because of the timing of the launch in Colorado.