As technology advances and more and more platforms are able to deliver entertaining content to users, already established companies must find a way to adapt and integrate themselves with these new technologies or they risk being left behind forever. This need to evolve and diversify is prevalent in the highly competitive sports and entertainment business, perhaps more than in any other field, and I feel that one of the most successful companies doing this is Barstool Sports. Barstool Sports began in 2003 as a small, Boston area sports newspaper but quickly pivoted to become and online sports and entertainment blog site after its founder, Dave Portnoy, recognized media’s inevitable transition from print to digital. Barstool is far from the only publication that successfully made this transition, however, what has separated Barstool from its competitors has been its ability to identify new, future industry-leading technologies and create highly prevalent and consumed content specifically tailored for each of these mediums. Aside from just on their own blog site, Barstoolsports.com, Barstool has grown to have its content featured and heavily promoted on many extremely popular internet sites, social media apps and even in sports stadiums. The company boasts not only a website with a cult-like following and ten million monthly visitors; They also have a combined eight million followers across Twitter and Instagram, employ many highly touted bloggers and internet personalities, produce over 30 different podcasts on a variety of different topics (which are featured across platforms like Spotify, Apple Music/Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio), and purchased the amateur Boxing tournament “Rough and Rowdy”, which they take around the country, hosting boxing tournaments that draw tens of thousands of fans to sports arenas and generating upwards of 50 thousand pay-per-view buys with each event. Barstool’s ability to experience early growth despite a lack of corporate backing and no television presence speaks volumes about its ability to reach its target audience (18-34 year olds). This growth and potential was recognized and capitalized upon by American Investor Peter Chernin, who bought a $10 million, majority stake in the company in 2017 and just invested another $15 million last month, raising Barstool Sports’ valuation to over $100 million. Not bad for a company that started as a free Boston newspaper “By the common man, for the common man”. Barstool has found a way to stay ahead of its competitors through its constant adaptation and willingness to adopt new ways of sharing and publishing its content, ways which other publications are often late or hesitant to do. The company is no longer just a blog site but a full-fledged media giant creating content for the internet, radio (Barstool has its own SiriusXM radio channel), social media, and even television (“Barstool Rundown” on Comedy Central and “Barstool Van Talk” on ESPN) and its growth and ever-evolving nature tells me it with be a major player in the sports and entertainment world for years to come.
Here is a photo of me, taken by my roommate, Andrew Denno. In the photo I am consuming Barstool Sports content on three different platforms on which they are popular. On the television is the Barstool Rundown from YouTube, on the laptop is the Barstoolsports.com blog site, and on my iPhone is the very popular Barstool Sports Instagram page. 
References:
Barstoolsports.com Traffic Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.similarweb.com/website/barstoolsports.com
Rottgers, J., & Rottgers, J. (2018, January 24). Barstool Sports Gets Another $15 Million From Chernin Group. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/barstool-chernin-investment-1202674676/