For Dave Portnoy, the allure of New York City has significantly waned since Zohran Mamdani triumphed in the mayoral election. The charismatic founder and CEO of Barstool Sports, known to many as El Presidente, is now contemplating a dramatic shift away from the city he once called home.
Portnoy expressed his discontent to the Daily Mail, commenting on the city’s current business climate. “There is zero value to being in New York for us right now,” he stated, indicating that Barstool Sports might soon pack its bags. “There are many cities that are far more pro-business than [New York City], which is clearly anti-business.”
Though he no longer resides in New York, favoring residences in Miami, Montauk, and Nantucket, Portnoy is not directly affected by Mamdani’s proposed tax increase targeting high earners. However, it’s not the financial implications that concern him the most. The democratic socialist’s intention to hike corporate taxes is less troubling to Portnoy than the potential cultural shift he sees on the horizon.
Portnoy is pondering the relocation of Barstool’s New York office along with its numerous employees due to his ideological differences with Mamdani. “The taxes are the least of it for me,” he elaborated. “He is a communist. I am a capitalist. I believe in the virtues of success and wealth, whereas he seems to view it as a sin. I value hard work and its rewards; he appears to want to hand out trophies to everyone.”
Clearly, Portnoy’s objections go beyond mere fiscal policies, reflecting a deeper philosophical divide between him and the city’s new leadership.
Portnoy’s list of grievances didn’t end there.
For starters, Mamdani previously voiced support for defunding police. And while he has since apologized to local cops, Portnoy still views the mayor-elect as an enemy of New York’s Finest.
Swampscott, Massachusetts-native Dave Portnoy and Camryn D’Aloia attend a playoff game between his Celtics and Zohran Mamdani’s Knicks in Boston
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji arrive to vote in Queens on Tuesday
‘I respect the NYPD and first responders,’ Portnoy continued. ‘He hates the NYPD and wants to defund them.’
Portnoy did not specifically mention the pro-Palestinian mayor-elect’s views on the Middle East or his critiques of US foreign policy, but the staunch Israel supporter accused Mamdani of being ‘a terrorist sympathizer.’
‘I hate terrorists,’ Portnoy said. ‘He hates America. I love America.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Mamdani’s spokesman for a response to Portnoy’s accusation.
The first Muslim ever elected mayor of New York has long been accused of sympathizing with terrorists – claims he’s dismissed as ‘racist, baseless attacks.’
As for Mamdani’s resume, which includes stints as a foreclosure prevention counselor, an assemblyman in Queens and one-time rapper, Portnoy is decidedly unimpressed.
‘He has never had a real job in his life,’ Portnoy told the Daily Mail. ‘I worked my ass off to get where I am.
‘To be honest I don’t respect anything about him.’
Asked for any potential counterargument Mamdani, 34, could offer to change his mind, the 48-year-old media mogul balked: ‘There isn’t much a communist could say that would make me want to do business in NYC or any other city in the world.’
The New York Post described New York City as ‘The Red Apple’ after Mamdani’s win
Some Mamdani’s Jewish supporters are seen holding signs outside an election watch party
Mamdani supporters crowd around an election night watch party in Brooklyn on Tuesday
Were the mayor-elect his only consideration, that would be Portnoy’s final word on the subject.
But Barstool Sports’ New York offices staff hundreds of employees, all of whom would face a tough decision if Portnoy’s pirate ship raised anchor.
‘Barstool Sports isn’t just me,’ Portnoy wrote. ‘We have lots of people who work for us and I’m sure some voted for Mamdani. Lots of people have built their lives around working in NYC.
‘I’m not sure it’s fair or that I’m ready to move the company just based on my personal disdain for everything about this guy.’
Personal disdain aside, Portnoy sees Mamdani as bad for business, which could prove to be the deciding factor for Barstool Sports and other local employers.
As financial expert, entrepreneur and the president of Exit Stage Left advisors Ted Jenkin told the Daily Mail, New York was already a difficult place for businesses before Mamdani’s imminent arrival at City Hall.
‘Class A real estate in New York is twice the price that it is in Dallas, let alone income taxes,’ Jenkin said.
‘The companies that also have a flexible hybrid schedule maybe ask themselves, if people don’t come in five days a week, what’s the point?’
Mamdani topped former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo by nearly nine percentage points
Jenkin named tax-friendly states like Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Nevada as three potential landing spots for media companies like Barstool Sports.
And while he acknowledged Mamdani’s plans to lighten the financial load for the city’s less fortunate, Jenkin predicts the mayor-elect’s tax hikes will ultimately exceed the numbers he proposed during the campaign.
‘I think the programs are going to be extremely costly,’ Jenkin said. ‘And if you look at states like California and also Massachusetts, where they’ve instituted millionaires’ taxes, this is the strategy of a socialist mayor, is to basically use wealth taxes and higher income taxes to pay for free programs.’
Just how much Mamdani’s tax plans will impact Barstool Sports staffers remains a mystery, and Portnoy isn’t pretending to have a crystal ball.
He envisions bad things for New York City under Mamdani, but for the time being, Portnoy’s bigger concern is his company. Last week, he even said he was considering moving the offices a few miles away into New Jersey.
‘I’ve given that a lot of thought… going to Hoboken or Jersey City or something,’ Portnoy said last week on a YouTube livestream. ‘I don’t want to f***ing have an office (in Manhattan). But then we have all those people who, like, that f***s up their life because I hate the guy. L
‘ike, all the people in the New York office have to go to Jersey City or … Hoboken. So it’s a Catch-22.’
As for now, he told the Daily Mail: ‘I’ll keep my options open and see what happens.’
