The Sporting Life

Shortly before tip-off of the Louisville–Creighton men’s basketball game on March 20, the digital-media and podcasting company Barstool Sports went live from the DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field. It was the start of March Madness, college basketball’s annual sixty-four-team tournament, and Barstool’s leading personalities—founder Dave Portnoy and a host of other sports and pop-culture influencers—had gathered to watch the morning slate of games. More precisely, they had come to wager on the outcomes.