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Fox's "Big Noon Kickoff" will look a bit different on Saturday mornings. On Friday afternoon before college football's Week 5 kicked off, the network announced it was ending its relationship with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
The announcement came less than 24 hours before the show was set to be live from Michigan-Minnesota on Saturday morning.
Portnoy, as well as several other Barstool personalities were regulars on the network's pregame college football show since last season and the start of this season.
Now, the Barstool founder is even accusing Ohio State head coach Ryan Day of being involved.
Here's everything to know about Portnoy's departure from the show.
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Why did Portnoy leave "Big Noon Kickoff"?
The news was first reported on Friday afternoon by The Athletic's Andrew Marchand. According to his reporting, the decision comes as a result of Fox's desire to lean into more traditional broadcasting. Via his reporting:
The sources briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said there wasn’t one specific reason for the decision’s abrupt timing. But the constant challenge of trying to unite Fox Sports’ more traditional show with Barstool’s persona proved unsustainable.
When asked to comment on the departure, Portnoy told Marchand that Buckeye head coach is behind the move. Potnoy is a Michigan alumnus and fan.
He claimed to Marchand that Ohio State apparently told Fox Sports that if he was part of last week's show in Columbus for the Ohio State game against Illinois, the school would not give access to anyone else at Fox Sports.
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Did Ryan Day get Dave Portnoy fired from Big Noon Kickoff?
For now, that is what Portnoy is claiming.
“Ohio State has relentlessly complained to Fox,” Portnoy said via The Athletic.
Portnoy additionally made the claims about Day on his X account:
Just was told @AndrewMarchand is about to release an article saying I’ve been put on ice for @BNKonFOX I havent seen the article yet and he didnt call me for a quote but i can sum it up this way
Ohio State and Ryan Day bitched and moaned to the Big 10 and threatened Fox…
“The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze,” Portnoy added to Marchand. “(Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks) and I have a good relationship.”
Surely this may not be the last we hear of Portnoy's claims. We'll see if Fox divulges any information as to why.
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