Thursday morning, Dan Rapaport announced he was leaving Barstool Sports and parting ways with the Fore Play podcast, taking what some inferred as a subtle dig at owner Dave Portnoy on his way out the door.
Later that day, Portnoy locked that door behind him.
Rapaport announced his decision on Thursday’s episode of Fore Play and released a statement on his X account.
“I’m beyond grateful for these last 2 years. What a life experience, man. Running around the world with an incredible group of guys on a bunch of golf adventures,” read his X post. “I was a huge Barstool and Fore Play fan before I joined and I’m an even bigger fan now.”
I’m beyond grateful for these last 2 years. What a life experience, man. Running around the world with an incredible group of guys on a bunch of golf adventures.
I will always be indebted to Riggs, Frankie and Trent for the opportunity and platform they provided me. And the… https://t.co/UMRjRsIEiC
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) September 5, 2024
In his final episode, Rapaport, who joined Barstool in 2022 when it was owned by Penn Entertainment, explained why he was leaving. He noted that his contract ended at the end of the PGA Tour season. He also seemed to imply that recent changes within the company impacted his decision. Portnoy, who founded Barstool, bought the company back from Penn last year.
“I have zero negative emotions toward Fore Play or Barstool or any of the three beautiful faces I’m looking at,” Rapaport said. “The company’s a little bit different than when I joined. I think I’m a little bit different than when I joined… when I joined we were gonna compete with ESPN, it was a different vibe.”
Portnoy made his usual appearance on The Unnamed Show later on Thursday alongside Kirk Minihane and Ryan Whitney. Invariably, the topic of Rapaport’sdeparture and his thinly veiled shot came up.
🚨🗣️⛳️ #NEW: Dave Portnoy addresses Dan Rapaport’s departure @ForePlayPod: “He has agents, they reached out to renew his contract, and I wouldn’t say I treated that like I was trying re-sign Patrick Mahomes.” pic.twitter.com/3fP0u2iWuZ
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) September 5, 2024
“He basically said, ‘Hey, Erika [Ayers Badan], Penn, growth, competing, ESPN, Dave Portnoy doesn’t care about growing the company,” said Minihane. “That is exactly what he said.”
“To a degree, there’s an element to truth,” said Portnoy. “I’m not obsessed with growing the company, correct. So what he said there is fair.
“I always try to make money, but the Korn Ferry, would I do the Korn Ferry? f*ck, no. That was a disaster. Stupid thing to do. I wouldn’t have done it. There’s certain things I wouldn’t do. ‘Well, this isn’t going to work.’ I’m not going to spend money just to spend money. But we can make money, of course, because everyone wants more money and we give back more money.”
Portnoy then zeroed in on Rapaport and why, from his perspective, they parted ways.
“I don’t mean this disrespectfully, okay? I don’t like Dan Rapaport, but I don’t not like Dan Rapaport,” said Portnoy. “I have apathy towards Dan Rapaport. I wish him well. I have absolutely no ill will to him. I would agree that Dan Rapaport is an unusual fit for us in the sense he’s boring. And he came on through Fore Play. So Fore Play wanted him. He wanted to be there. We would resign him. And if he didn’t, he didn’t.”
Portnoy then said that he didn’t put much effort into trying to re-sign Rapaport to a new deal.
“He has agents. They reached out to renew his contract,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I treated that as though I was trying to resign Patrick Mahomes. I was probably could have been a little more active.
“I just didn’t go out of my way to schedule. It’s like, ‘Hey, when can we set up a talk?’ It’s like 10 minutes. Then I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go eat a salad’ and I’d forget that we had the call or something. It just wasn’t great on my part. I would have re-signed him if Riggs and the Fore Play guys, like re-signed them. It sounds like there’s no ill will. It was his choice.
“I was surprised he wasn’t coming. I wish him well. I think the sentiment that he said, well, it was a different company, and I think he’s in probably extreme minority who would be viewing that as a negative.”
