It may be the dawn of a new era for Barstool Sports as CEO Erika Ayers Badan has announced that she will be stepping down from her position.

Prior to joining Barstool Sports, she was a seasoned vet as some would say. She was an experienced executive with prior roles as the Chief Marketing Officer of AOL for two years and she was the President and Chief Revenue Officer of Bkstg. Badan joined Barstool in 2016 when the company was sold to The Chernin Group. She has been a big part of Barstool’s expansion over the years. The company was then sold back to Dave Portnoy in 2023.

As she posted what sounds like a goodbye message to Barstool on her social media accounts, it’s unclear what Erika Ayers Badan plans to do in the near future. Quickly after the news came out, Portnoy shared his feelings on Badan leaving.

“Only correction is everybody wanted the job,” Portnoy posted on his X account. “We just didn’t like anybody except her. There is no doubt @erika_ was the perfect and probably only fit for us. It’s been quite a run and we couldn’t have done it without her. She was everything I dreamed she’d be and more in a CEO.”

Since she’s been with Barstool, Badan has served as a board member for WWE, Torchy’s Tacos and the Premier Lacrosse League. She’s not fully done with Barstool yet. She wants to help in the transition of finding a new CEO.

“I’m going to help Dave as long as he needs me,” she stated in her video. “I’m going to try to figure out what I’m going to build and do next.”

No matter what she chooses to do next, her resume will loom large from being the CEO of Barstool. Especially during a crucial time when they rose to the top of the Sports Industry.

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