Where is Barstool Sportsbook legal?
Written by
Mia - Researcher / WriterLast updated:
June 30, 2023
Sports betting has always been a popular pastime for young and old folks alike. With the advent of the internet, it has never been easier to place bets on your favorite sports than now. Sports betting, which was illegal and risky, is only a few-click task now. Barstool Sportsbook is among the leading online sportsbooks in the country, with its popularity stemming from a long history of presence in the sports betting world. In this article, you will learn about the Barstool Sports journey from the beginning to dominating the betting industry.
What is Barstool Sports? A short history:
The story starts with David Portnoy being a betting and gambling enthusiast. Trying different jobs, David went on to launch Barstool Sports in 2003. He noticed a market for content around betting and gambling, which had not been filled with competition. So he stepped and founded Barstool Sports, a free black & white newspaper full of wisdom on betting.
David was working long hours to write articles for the newspaper using pseudo-names to convey a feeling of trust and authority around his newly-founded brand. His friends later joined him in doing the same and writing articles with different pseudo-names. Getting casinos and gambling-related industries to advertise in the newspaper was the main business model followed by David at the time. He even went on to create fake ads to compel the competitors of the printed ads to do the same.
Barstool Sports provided a unique voice and insight into sports journalism. The like of which was not offered by the competitors at the time. That was the reason behind its growing popularity besides the photos of local models at the back of the newspaper.
Barstool Sports slowly started to cover many different topics, especially pop culture. It went online in 2007 so that not to be confined within the borders of Boston. The move opened the Barstool Sports articles to a wide range of audiences, who did only reside in the US but all around the world.
Despite the controversy created by David’s opinions on different subjects, Chenin Group acquired 51% of the company’s stake in 2016 for a good price.
Barstool Sports began to offer new content formats, such as podcasts and video series. Taking full advantage of all social media platforms was the new goal.
Barstool Sports is now a giant digital media company headquartered in New York. It is owned by Penn Entertainment after the 2020 acquisition from the Chenin Group. The company is putting hundreds of content across all online platforms daily. Its content is consumed by approximately 66 million people every month. The content mostly includes entertainment, lifestyle, sports, trending subjects, gossip, and documentaries.
It launched Barstool Store to offer merchandise to diversify its revenue streams. Loyal fans, referred to as Stoolies, can now proudly show off their Barstool t-shirts and other merchants.
The company launched the Barstool Bets app in 2019, which offered users to collect and evaluate betting-related information. It was an attempt to return to the company’s roots as a betting-related paper.
Penn Entertainment, more on the side of sports betting and casino gaming, saw the opportunity and acquired the company from The Chernin Group, which is more on the side of media and entertainment. And that marks the birth of another era for Barstool Sports.
Barstool Sportsbook was launched as a mobile application for sports betting on Sep 18th, 2020. It claimed the top spot in the US app stores a day after its launch. Furthermore, the app managed to process 11 million worth of wagers in its first operational week. Penn Entertainment plans to dominate other sports betting giants.
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Barstool Sportsbook state 2023:
Barstool Sportsbook was initially operating in the states of Pennsylvania and Michigan but later expanded to other states as well.
You may place bets while physically located in a state where Barstool Sportsbook is licensed. The list of states where you can place sports bets is as follows:
- Pennsylvania
- Michigan
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Colorado
- Virginia
- New Jersey
- Tennessee
- Arizona
- Iowa
- West Virginia
- Louisiana
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Ohio
- Massachusetts
Barstool Sportsbook comes with online casino games as well. The states where you can play casino games at Barstool Sportsbook are as follow:
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- Michigan
- West Virginia
On the other hand, logging in, depositing, withdrawing, and checking transaction history can be done from anywhere in the US.
Does Barstool Sportsbook work internationally?
Barstool Sportsbook is only available in the states mentioned above. It does not work internationally as of now, but the company is not here to be satisfied with only 16 states. It surely has plans to expand to more states and other countries.
Can I use a VPN for Barstool Sportsbook?
You can use a VPN to change your IP to a state where Barstool Sportsbook is licensed and place sports bets. Barstool Sportsbook checks your physical location before proceeding to wager and does not allow further actions if your state IP does not match those of the legal states. A VPN service will let you log in from a list of licensed states and place your bets.
Final thoughts:
Barstool Sports is a popular brand synonymous with sports betting and pop culture. The company has gone fully into all social media platforms to maximize its reach.
Barstool Sports has been active in many fields besides creating content, such as charitable works, Radio, Pizza reviews, and reality shows.
It has raised over 41 million dollars for small businesses affected aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US. It is called Barstool Fund, and over 200,000 people, including celebrities, contributed to it.
The company has gone too many directions after its launch, but the Penn Entertainment acquisition could mean sports betting activities going forward.
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