Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy just revealed an intriguing offer from the Trump administration that would have placed him in the Department of Commerce. The media mogul ultimately declined the opportunity, choosing instead to remain at the helm of his wildly successful empire rather than abandon it for Washington.
At a glance:
• Dave Portnoy was offered a position in Trump’s Department of Commerce
• The offer required Portnoy to step away from running Barstool Sports
• After initial contact, the administration never followed up with next steps
• Portnoy questioned how Elon Musk manages multiple companies while working with the government
• Portnoy has been a vocal Trump supporter and critic of Democrats
Trump Administration Extends Offer
The Barstool Sports Founder and President has just shared details about a surprising government job offer on his “Davey Day Trader Global” show. Portnoy revealed that representatives from the Trump administration approached him about joining the Department of Commerce under Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“I got a call, I don’t know, a couple of months ago, I don’t know when I got the call, And it was like ‘hey, would you have any interest, Dave, in joining the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary under [Howard] Lutnick, or the guy working under him’,” Portnoy explained.
It’s hard to tell whether it would have been a genius idea…or a disaster!
Deal Breaker: Leaving Barstool Behind
It was one key requirement of the job that proved to be a dealbreaker for Portnoy. Government ethics rules would have required Portnoy to step away from his day-to-day leadership role at Barstool Sports, something the founder was unwilling to do after recently regaining full control of his company.
“And they’re like ‘but a caveat of joining the government is somebody would have to run Barstool. You can’t run Barstool and work for the government’,” Portnoy detailed. The media mogul had only recently reacquired his company from Penn National for just $1 after the gaming company struggled with regulatory issues related to Portnoy’s controversial image.
Portnoy compared his situation to Elon Musk’s involvement with the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
“The one thing I do wonder with Elon … He’s doing all this DOGE stuff, which I think is good. Get rid of government waste, I’m for that, but how do you run Tesla when you’re working on DOGE 24/7?”
The answer, of course, is that Musk isn’t technically in charge of DOGE. Instead, he serves as an adviser to the government.
Trump Supporter Despite Declining Role
Despite turning down the administrative role, Portnoy has remained a steadfast supporter of President Trump. The entrepreneur, who interviewed Trump at the White House in 2020, was particularly vocal during the 2024 campaign season about his opposition to Democratic candidates.
“People like myself, independents or moderates, the Democrats gave us no choice … That was the worst campaign and their pure arrogance and their moral superiority have driven people away,” Portnoy said about the president.
Interestingly, Portnoy also mentioned that the administration never actually followed up after the initial conversation. “By the way, even if I wanted to do that, they never, like, followed up. They’re, like, let us know if you could find somebody to run Barstool … and if you are interested, we’ll schedule a call in a week to go over the next steps. That never happened, so it was weird.”
Do you think he should have done it?
