Barstool Sports bails out four Central Mass. businesses with relief fund
Photo | Courtesy of Google
Breen's Cafe in Worcester
The popular blog Barstool Sports, originally founded in Massachusetts but now headquartered in New York City, has provided financial relief to four Central Mass. businesses as part of The Barstool Fund, an initiative launched to help small businesses struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic.
Central Mass. businesses receiving aid from the fund include Breen’s Cafe of Worcester, Finally Lisa’s Hair Salon in Southbridge, Primavera in Millis, and Body N Beyond Massage Therapy in Hopkinton.
Barstool Founder David Portnoy announced the funding initiative in a vlog posted to the fund’s website, chastising the government for not providing adequate relief for business owners who are struggling or closing down because of regulations meant to curb the spread of the virus.
“Is it the best plan? No. The best plan is the government getting off their a** and issuing relief, billions of dollars, to these small business owners who are losing their livelihoods and have no recourse, no way to save it, through no fault of their own,” Portnoy said. “Billions of dollars, that’s the solution -- the only solution, really.”
In the meantime, he and the site’s readers are taking matters into their own hands, launching a two-pronged approach to small business relief. The first part of the program included an initial $500,000 seed investment by Barstool, according to Portnoy’s announcement.
The primary qualification for receiving aid -- which Barstool is selecting on a case-by-case basis -- is that business owners continue paying their employees. If selected, Barstool will cover whatever a business owner needs to keep their lights on for the next month, after which Barstool will continue to provide relief month-to-month going forward, while it is needed.
“What good does it do to help you for two months and then disappear and you go out of business the next month?” Portnoy remarked in the announcement video, adding small business owners “have been dealt a hand nobody can play.”
The second portion of the relief initiative includes a crowdfunding campaign, during which Barstool selects and promotes a single business and raises funds for that business until their posted need is met.
“We’re going to help as many as we humanly can,” Portnoy said.
So far, the overarching Barstool Fund has raised more than $33 million, according to a ticker on its website. Dozens of businesses around the country have received aid from the initiative, according to a list of recipients.
Barstool did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday morning.
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