Overview
- The Athletic reported Friday that Fox has removed Dave Portnoy and other Barstool personalities from its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show and Portnoy publicly confirmed the change.
- Portnoy says Ohio State and coach Ryan Day pressured the Big Ten and Fox, showed executives a compilation of his anti‑Buckeyes content, and told Fox they would not cooperate if he attended broadcasts.
- Multiple outlets and commentators quote Fox sources saying there was no single turning point and that Barstool’s confrontational persona proved a poor cultural and commercial fit for the traditional Big Noon Kickoff format.
- Ohio State referred questions to Fox and Fox declined to comment, while Barstool’s other projects on FS1, such as Wake Up Barstool, are expected to continue for the moment.
- The dispute underlines the leverage lead programs like Ohio State hold for networks that pay large sums for conference rights and shows how access and ratings considerations can determine which personalities appear on live college‑football broadcasts.