Barstool, “Call Her Daddy”, and “Suit Man”: A Legal Analysis on The Feud Heard ‘round the World
When it comes to Barstool Sports, the multimedia empire is no stranger to drama. Founder Dave Portnoy has made countless headlines over the years which highlight the company’s less-than-traditional approach to sports media, constantly proving that there really is ‘no such thing as bad publicity’. In recent weeks alone, Portnoy spent $250,000 to win an auction to watch a Monday Night Football game with Roger Goodell in the NFL Commissioner’s basement. Portnoy has been one of Goodell’s loudest critics following the leagues treatment of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots during the “deflategate” scandal. Portnoy almost exclusively refers to the Commissioner as “clown” and championed mottos including “Fire Goodell’.
What is not as common for Barstool Sports is drama within their own house. That is exactly what appears to be happening with the ever-growing feud between Barstool and one of their most successful home-grown podcasts, “Call her Daddy”. Barstool Sports has created a number of podcasts under their umbrella and “Call Her Daddy” with co-hosts Alexandra Cooper and Sofia Franklyn has become extremely successful. The podcast has consistently been in the top of the iTunes charts.
The two co-hosts are under contract with Barstool. According to CheatSheet, they are in year two of a three-year contract. The terms of which included “an annual base salary of $75,000 plus an additional $2,500 an episode for every 10 percent of listeners they attracted above the show’s average”. The content is owned entirely by Barstool Sports. With the massive success of the podcast, the co-hosts naturally feel like the original contract undervalues their present performance.
Now when looking at this initial agreement between the two parties, it has its pros and its cons. One of the important things to remember is that this agreement was made before “Call Her Daddy” had any success. This puts Cooper and Franklyn at a disadvantage because in the beginning they would have very little bargaining power. As a company, Barstool is taking the risk by paying Cooper and Franklyn a salary with performance-based incentives, without any proof of concept. Arguably, the two could have created this content on their own, putting it out on their own platform week after week, building their own brand. Without Barstool’s massive network behind them, it would likely have taken much longer to build a following as large as the one they had built with Barstool behind them… but they would have owned 100% of the intellectual property. What many content creators find attractive about working with companies like Barstool is that these major media companies can offer the benefit of proven business models, relationships with advertisers, and established marketing and distribution channels.
Enter Franklyn’s boyfriend and Executive Vice President of HBO Sports, Peter Nelson (whom Portnoy refers to as “Suit Man”). Apparently, Nelson inserted himself in the contract negotiations and it is rumored to have driven a wedge between the parties. According to an inside source reported by Cheat Sheet, Nelson had been quietly shopping the two co-hosts while they were still under contract with Barstool. This allegedly created not only a rift between Portnoy and Franklyn but is also creating a rift between co-hosts Franklyn and Cooper. In classic Barstool fashion, Portnoy is profiting off of this saga by releasing “Cancel Suitman” merchandise through the Barstool website.
As content creators, it is important to do a quick cost benefit analysis and weigh the pros and cons when negotiating your contracts. While financial security may be a driving factor in the immediate future, it likely comes at a cost. If a company is paying you to create content for them, it’s likely that they will expect to retain all of the intellectual property rights in whatever content you’re creating for them (unless you push back during negotiations and insist on keeping ownership). What this means is that you could be giving up the right to profit from future commercial use of the work you created (for example, the ad revenue from a viral YouTube video, or merchandise with your podcast’s catchphrase).
Whenever negotiating contracts, especially as a creative, it is vitally important to have someone with your best interests in mind negotiating on your behalf. It could make all the difference in the world… just ask Alexandra and Sofia.
Contact us here at Kahn Media Law where we promise not to act like “Suit Man” (unless it’s in your best interest…).
Dylan Krasinski
Senior Counsel, Kahn Media Law