Barstool Sports Under Investigation For Jose Canseco Fight?
Barstool Sports Under Investigation For Jose Canseco Fight?
Notorious baseball cheat Jose Canseco fell in brutal fashion to Barstool Sports employee Billy Football at ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ 13 two weeks ago.
After a lot of hype and build-up heading into the showdown, with many of Barstool’s most prominent personalities promoting it across various channels, the ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ main event between Canseco and Billy Football lasted less than a minute.
After the fact, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy accused Canseco of taking a dive.
“Jose 100% took a dive,” he tweeted. “We paid half up front and he got double if he won. We thought that would ensure he’d fight. We were wrong.”
Shortly thereafter he tweeted this follow-up: “Get ready to puke. Jose made over 1 million dollars for 5 seconds last night.”
According to Matt Schoch of Play Michigan, the controversial nature of ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ 13’s main event has prompted an investigation.
“The chairman of the West Virginia state commission told PlayMichigan they are investigating the events in question and have not committed to sanctioning future Rough ‘N Rowdy cards,” he wrote.
Klay knows how to do Valentine’s Day right. https://t.co/Gxt1gRLTX2
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 15, 2021
Regardless of what ultimately comes of the investigation, some believe Portnoy will need to use more caution when he tweets going forward.
As noted by Darren Heitner of Above The Law, “Portnoy would be wise to exercise caution in the future when tweeting about the circumstances surrounding events that his company promotes and also accepts wagers on. His company is so completely involved in all aspects of the event that what seems like harmless commentary in the form of calling out Canseco for ‘taking a dive’ can become a real concern in the legal, regulated sports betting space.”
Valentine’s Day is extra fun when your dad owns the Milwaukee Bucks. https://t.co/jVmIdVrQfT
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 15, 2021
Of course, requesting that Portnoy filter some of his messaging is no small ask. Whether he is going to war with execs, starring in sex tapes or fending off controversy, the thing he always does is speak his mind.
Regardless of what this investigation turns up, that’s unlikely to change any time soon.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
