Portnoy Touts Barstool Sportsbook's Top Ranking In App Store

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy hyped the launch of The Barstool Sportsbook app late Friday via Twitter.

The betting app, an offshoot of the Barstool media brand, ranked number one among sports apps after its debut. See below:

#1 sports app #BarstoolSportsbook $penn

GOODNIGHT pic.twitter.com/MvElWIx2NC

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 19, 2020

The app, which launched Friday ahead of the second week of the NFL season, comes as states with legalized sports betting enjoy a new aspect of the game at a time when fans can't sit in stadiums due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

See Also: Barstool Sportsbook Optimism Powers Penn National To 52-Week High

The success of the Barstool Sportsbook app bodes well for Penn National PENN, which Portnoy owns a stake in (Penn also owns a 36% stake in Barstool Sports). The goal for Penn National is to convert Barstool's massive following into sports bettors, underscoring an atypical transformation for what started out as a media company in 2003.

The news should also make the private equity investors at The Chernin Group happy. The Los Angeles-based firm also owns a stake in Barstool.

Barstool Sports officially launching their own sports betting product is a perfect example of how a “media” company can create a massive software business.

This is just the beginning...and they are paving the way. pic.twitter.com/qpymOCptbB

— Blake Robbins (@blakeir) September 18, 2020

The return of major sports, while without a live capacity crowd, certainly helped the Barstool Sportsbook app gain traction. The NBA and NHL are currently in playoffs, while two weeks remain in the "new regular" MLB season. And the NFL season kicked off recently on Sept. 10.