Erika Nardini isnt your average CEO. For one, she is a hockey-playing woman who swears and finds time to host her own podcast. She has a swagger, casual bravado, and confidence that make you straighten up, smile and lean in all at the same time. You straighten up because shes The Boss. You smile because her energy and passion are genuine. And you lean in because you easily realize that shes saying something thats really worth listening to. Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, is very clearly a leadership force to be reckoned with. Smart, determined and fearless, she is the visionary who has grown a small collection of misfit bloggers into a multi-faceted company with its hands in content, booze, gambling and much more. Her unheard of success as a woman in sports and business is a combination of hard work, trusting her instincts over conformity and allowing herself and those around her to be their most authentic selves.
My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me, Nardini explains. They worked in education as teachers and professors so we didn't have a lot. They let me know that anything that I wanted, I had to work for. If I liked certain brands and clothes, if I wanted to have new clothes to go back to school, then I had to go bus tables at a restaurant. It may sound hard, but I always felt most comfortable at work. I quickly figured out there was a causal relationship. If I worked hard, I would make money. If I had money, I could do what I want. And I liked that and I still do.
Her hard work and ability to make money has placed her in the restaurant, finance, advertising, music, tech and sports industries. With each stop, her hard work brings success and allows her to pick up new concepts and vital information to apply to her next venture. Her ability to identify and follow the casual relationship between an action and money, led her to success early on in her career. In fact, Nardinis first job was as a Media Manager for Fidelity Investments. As a Media Manager she was responsible for all broadcast, print, and interactive media planning and buying. At a time when the internet was a complete novelty, she established, oversaw, and launched their first digital planning practice. It didnt take Nardini long to realize that there was something special about the internet and the way it allowed users to interact with their customers. She also saw very early on that there was money to be made on the internet.
It was the late nineties. Print was very glamorous and the internet was underground, wild and nebulous. Nobody cared about the internet or wanted to work on it, but they gave me a lot of money to go figure it out. What I saw was that the internet provided a space to create something, have someone react to that something and to be able to measure the audiences reaction. The almost instant feedback was incredible. I saw the cause and effect of what we purchased. I knew the internet was going to be a medium where you were only limited by technology and your imagination or vision for whatever conversation, product or positioning you wanted to create. I really loved that.
Her ability to quickly understand the potential for the internet propelled her in her career. As she realized that the power in print, digital and television is held by the buyer and the creative, she moved to the creative side at an ad agency, a space that allowed her to create what people would react toto be the producer. And create she did. By the early 2000s Nardini became the Vice President and Group Account Director of Arnold Worldwide, managing a team of seventeen people who were responsible for creating all digital and media management for major companies like Royal Caribbean, Volkswagen, Choice Hotels, Tyson Foods, Vonage, and Goodyear.
In a relatively short period of time, Nardini went from a fresh-faced college grad who was cutting her chops in the unproven, nascent internet to a bona fide leader, creating brand strategies for major companies. Having graduated from Colby College with a degree in Sociology she chartered her initial success with no specialized training. There was no business school for the internet or courses in digital marketing. She didnt acquire a postgraduate degree. So she had to build her career off of the same hard work of her teenage years, her creative instincts and her knowledge about people. While that formula has allowed her to thrive; Nardini will be the first to tell you that her success hasnt been without lots of failure and unexpected shifts.
I failed a lot. Not everything I tried worked. I worked at big companies, I would try startups. They would fail. I would go back to a big company. I havent had one of those careers that was very prescriptive, linear or even logical. When I interviewed for the CMO position at AOL [a role she would eventually get], they were like, Jesus, you're like all over the map. And I said, yeah, I was all over the map. You know why? Because I saw how things fit together. I would learn one thing and then see how it fit with another and go work on the other thing. I was able to take what I learned in one space, grow it and pour it over the next thing.
The method to her madnessrelying on her instinct and fitting the pieces togetherhas proven successful and developed in her a true business acumen in the digital world. Her ability to understand and grow digital business landed her in C-Suite positions at Microsoft, Yahoo, Bkstg and Demand Media, in addition to AOL. When you look at how Nardini, a bit of a maverick, has literally built a career in the internet, it should come as no surprise that she would be tapped as Barstools first CEO. Her career and philosophy seem to go lock-in-step with the irreverent brand created by President Dave Portnoy.
In her five years at Barstool Sports, Nardini has led the way to a ton of growth but refused to let the company be put into a box. What was once just a loose collection of sports blogs with a 12 man staff is now one of the fastest growing lifestyle brands on the internet with 240 men and women in its employ. She has led the company in generating revenue from multiple business lines including merchandise, advertising, licensing and experiential. Because of Nardini, Barstool is an internet force to be admired. And at the core of all of that growth is Nardinis unwillingness to be boxed in and a true understanding of the people Barstool creates forthe fans.
I feel like what I was able to bring to Barstool was a willingness to try anything, an appetite to grow, a desire to be very hands-on, an appreciation for fans and creators, and a desire to put businesses around the fans and creators in a way that helped them both and made them both feel rewarded and big.
Under her leadership Barstools creators and fans have certainly struck it big. Barstool has become a top five podcasting publisher in the US (according to Podtrac). It has the worlds #1 sports podcast, #1 hockey podcast, #1 golf podcast, and #1 female podcast. It is now the fastest growing sports brand on every social platform, third most engaged sports publisher on social (according to Shareablee Dec 2020), sixth Most Viewed Sports Creator across Facebook and Youtube (according to Tubular Oct 2020) and a number one digital sports media creator (according to Tubular 2020).
But Barstool isnt just podcasts and sports. Nardini has overseen Barstools lucrative forays in the alcohol, gambling and now beverage industries. Its 2019 collaboration with Spittin Chiclets and New Amsterdam vodka led to the #1 selling flavored vodka in North America and Canada, the Pink Whitney. Its January 2020 partnership with Penn National Gaming to form Barstool Sportsbook and Casino has become one of the leading interactive gaming platforms in Pennsylvania and Michigan where it was the only major operator to generate positive net revenue in the amount of $1.6M. And last months deal with Revitalyte which added Revitalyte Black Label by Barstool Sports to Revitalytes popular lineup of electrolyte recovery drinks is sure to be a hit.
Nardinis commitment to not allow Barstool to be just one thing makes Barstool unlike any other company and Nardini wouldnt have it any other way.
I'm always very curious about what ESPN and NBC are doing. Im always like what's happening over there? Whats happening is those businesses operate in a box. Decision-making is done in a box. Management is done in a box. The product itself is in a box. The rights, the negotiations, theyre in boxes. I find that very constricting. I cant be in a box and neither can Barstool. I love that I can come to work and have a conversation about who's going to be the next Robinhood and Barstool Sports potential while simultaneously thinking about TikTok, how were stars on that and what kind of merchant businesses I could create on TikTok. We are very nonconformist. And that I think is a big part of our success.
Nonconformism is a term Nardini prefers over diversity and inclusion, an obviously hot-topic in every swath of society right now. She doesnt shy away from diversity and inclusion because she doesnt believe in it. In fact, Barstool has an all-female management team comprised of Deirdre Lester, Chief Revenue Office and Jen Simons, EVP, Head of Production, Programming and Development. She shies away from using the term diversity and inclusion because, in its current iteration in society, it just doesnt seem to really encompass her mission.
One of the greatest things about Barstool Sports is that we embrace people from all different places, with different ways of thinkingthe weird brains. I love that we have a bunch of freaks and geeks rolling around here. We have jocks and gamers. We have everyone from Frank the Tank to Zvataida Zah Chimedza to Liz Gonzales to Deion Sanders to Alex Cooper, and a bunch in between. We didn't necessarily go looking for people like Frank, Zah or Liz but when they came, we let them be. Barstool is a little bit come as you are and let's see what you can do. If people like what you do, we will help you grow. I think the diversity and inclusion mantra is often limited to race and gender. I always wanted to create a place where people could be their true selves, where they could be fearless and treated the same; where you shine on your merit even if your merit is different than the person next to you.
The nonconformist approach has served Barstool well, attracting new unique talent, loyal fans and revenue. When Nardini took the reins in 2016, Barstool had about $2 million in the bank and 2 advertisers. Today, Barstool has over 91 personalities, 1.2 billion social views, 41 million video views and 8 million listeners across its platforms. It is also valued at $450 million dollars. Thats not bad for a girl from Colorado with no MBA or Ivy League degree.
I believe. I believe in us and I believe in our fans and I believe in the internet and I feel so fortunate to work in such a creative, anything is possible space. My hope is that in growing Barstool the way I have that others will see that you dont have to conform and you can create something huge. I hope people see that if you work hard, be your authentic self, great things can happen.
