Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini has been very private on her social media, trying her best to keep her personal life separate from her public life. She has been the Barstool Sports’ CEO and became talent with her podcast “Token CEO.” She sat on the board of Torchy’s Tacos and the WWE. However, she recently stepped down from Torchy’s Tacos and the WWE, telling people she needed to focus on the Barstool acquisition.
But according to our inside source. FACTZ was told, “Penn Entertainment already acquired Barstool, and she thought being associated with both Vince McMahon and Dave Portnoy wasn’t the best for business after both have had stories in public about their sexual affairs.”
Which makes no sense considering Nardini’s history. She is married with children and took squash lessons at New Canaan Country Club in Connecticut. Her club pro, who was teaching her lessons, was also married. The pro’s wife noticed that his lessons were going into the early morning and became suspicious of coming and finding her husband having an affair with Nardini.
Nardini has refused to address the situation publically, not even on her podcast, where she talks about being a mentor, business strategy for Barstool Sports, and a voice for young entrepreneurs. The podcast is advertised as “raw and candid,” just like its host.
Many employees at Barstool Sports have said how difficult it is to work with Nardini. One employee tells FACTZ, “She is bipolar, and you never know which Erika [Nardini] you will see.”
Another one of the employees at Barstool Sports tells FACTZ, “I wish she would take a step back and stay behind the scenes and focus on Barstool rather than trying to be talent herself. She recently got tattoos on her arms and now walks around the office showing off her new tattoos to prove that she is cool and hip. It is like she is having a mid-life crisis.”
Nardini didn’t know what to do when her scandal went down and never addressed it with the company. David Portnoy who is pretty honest about himself on his podcast and even has a segment called “Inside Barstool,” didn’t address her infidelity that made headlines.
At the recent Upfront, Nardini rambled for a while and made the Upfront go way too long. Even Portnoy admitted this on his podcast. Some staff members have been speaking about their lack of respect for Nardini. She comes across publically as a solid female CEO but “lacks the focus, encouraging, uplifting traits that a solid CEO carries.”
Recent long-time staffers have left the company due to fallouts with Nardini, and current employees are fed up.
As long as Erika keeps Portnoy rich. He won’t care. He’s not about love for his employees. He puts them down for sport.