Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy commented that the company garnered approximately 124,000 pay-per-view buys on its own platform after pulling the show from YouTube. The Google-owned site had demanded that the company censor content that was deemed "harassment."
At the end of November 2023, the company's fan-favorite reality show "Surviving Barstool" featured an episode that YouTube said contained scenes of a cast member engaging in "harassment" that "threatens an identifiable individual," according to a screenshot shared by Portnoy on X.
YouTube appeared to tell Barstool that it needed to delete the video and upload a different version of the episode that edited or removed the "violative scenes," or else the company would receive a Community Guidelines strike. According to the same screenshot, YouTube also wanted Barstool to edit or remove "vulgar language" and "excessive profanity" or else an age restriction would be placed on the video.
Community Guidelines strikes can restrict a YouTube channel's ability to post, livestream, or use the platform all together. An age restriction forces users to sign in on YouTube with an account of appropriate age in order to watch.
"We pulled the episodes. ... I'm not changing the fking episodes," Portnoy said in response. "Fk YouTube if they're not actually smart enough to watch a reality show and realize what's going on," he added.
The content in question focused on broadcaster Kirk Minihane, who jokingly threatened to blow up the house of the reality show's host. Minihane's comments were in response to the host saying "anything goes" in terms of the show's rules, with Minihane responding that he would attack his house since there are no rules.
Despite the host laughing while the comments were made, YouTube still allegedly determined the remarks to be worthy of censorship.
Portnoy announced the following day that the reality show would indeed be moved to Barstool TV, the company's own streaming site, available for $9.99. Within five days the total number of pay-per-view orders for the show surpassed 100,000.
"Thank you to everybody who bought and continues to buy #survivingbarstool we really do have the best fans on earth," Portnoy wrote on X.
The owner remarked on a December 13, 2023, video from Barstool's Chicago headquarters that the program had amassed approximately 124,000 buys, totaling $1.24 million.
The company managed the impressive numbers despite an employee accidentally spoiling the last episode of the show by revealing the final three contestants the morning before the finale was set to air.
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