Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy will once again not be inside Ohio Stadium as part of FOX’s ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ crew, just as he wasn’t for Week 1 (Texas vs Ohio State).
In his weekly hit on “The Unnamed Show” on Barstool, Portnoy tried to drive home the point that he takes no offense with FOX for any of its assignments and instead pointed the finger at the Big 10. “We have a great relationship with Fox Sports. They have been nothing but great working with us. It’s like the oppo-world of ESPN,” he said
Ohio State doesn’t allow Michigan alumni — Portnoy is as loud of a Michigan alumn as you’re going to find — onto the field. Portnoy and his Barstool CFB team will instead be on location at Mississippi State.
Portnoy and Barstool were formally in partnership with ESPN — the network aired a single episode of “Barstool Van Talk” with the stars of “Pardon My Take” — before it was canceled in 2018.
“We have a great relationship with Fox, and I am not trying to make their lives more difficult because we have a great relationship,” he said. “That is why we’re going to Mississippi State…There’s no trouble in paradise with us and FOX Sports. Now, is there trouble in paradise with other people, maybe, but not with us and FOX.”
“We have a great relationship with Fox Sports. They have been nothing but great working with us. They’ve been great. They just—it’s a great relationship. So I’m not trying to agitate it,” he continued. He confirmed he views the relationship as far superior to his last media partnership, commenting: “It’s like the oppo-world of ESPN”.
“I think they [FOX Sports] would probably echo a lot of things we say, but this is our partner, and we’re going to try and make this work as best we can for everybody. I have no complaints with FOX Sports. None, zero. I love working with them.”
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Portnoy is hardly the only big name on Big Noon Kickoff. He’s joined by a plethora of former Heisman Trophy winners, such as Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram II, Charles Woodson, and others. Longtime OSU coach Urban Meyer also adorns the studio set.
FOX launched the first iteration of the show in 2013 before it was canceled due to low viewership on FS1. It was re-launched in 2019 as “Big Noon Saturday.”
Portnoy joined the staff ahead of the 2025 season in a deal that also gave him the show “Wake Up Barstool” every weekday on FS1 at 8am ET.
