An Explanation of Barstool Employee Wages and Contract Negotiations

Barstool Sports is (almost) always making headlines for something – and arguably getting paid well to do so.

Grace O’Malley She announced her departure from the company in December 2024 after a friendship fell apart from a longtime bestie. Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia (more on that, here ) and since then he has spilled the tea on what did she do for the brand.

“I didn’t do anything when I was there. I had a salary and that was kind of it,” O’Malley claimed during a January 2025 appearance on the “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von” podcast. “I had the option to leave, and I took it.”

O’Malley further claimed that former “PlanBri Uncut” podcast host LaPaglia was getting “a lot more” than she was.

“I never made any money off (the podcast tour). Barstool took it,” he claimed. “I wasn’t worried either. I was happy to be there. I was surprised just to get the job.”

She’s not the only Barstool personality who has detailed their salaries over the years:

The Grace O’Malley revelation

After O’Malley’s podcast claims, her former boss (and Barstool founder) Dave Portnoy divide the numbers. He said in s January 2025 TikTok video that O’Malley’s base salary was $175,000 a year and he earned 70 percent of “anything” sold on their personal social media accounts.

“He got another $75,000 in 2024 that way,” Portnoy continued. “(Her interview) could have been cut up, misinterpreted a bit, but it bothers me when people make it seem like they’re not being paid fairly. I think we handled – as I have said from the beginning – Grace brilliantly. “

Portnoy also addressed the pay gap with LaPaglia. “Bri was a much bigger personality,” he continued.

Portnoy explained that once Barstool recovers the personality’s base salary, they “split every dollar fifty-fifty” going forward. “I don’t like it when people make it seem like we’re cheating our creators, because we’re not,” he added.

KFC promotion

Kevin Clancy (known to Stoolies as KFC) was named GM of Comedy Barstool Sports in July 2023. He announced the news on his “KFC Radio” podcast. at the time and shared that the career move had brought a pay bump – but did not share the details.

Clancy explained that he left his corporate job for a full-time position at Barstool after knowing he would be paid “enough to live on,” which was $50,000 at the time.

“I think I started like 50 and then whenever I was like 100 grand, I think I was like, ‘Wow I’m making six figures doing this,'” he said. Elsewhere in the episode, Clancy said that his promotion did not guarantee a contract negotiation.

“I’m also the only one in the world who started a job with more responsibility without getting a new contract for it,” he quipped.

Clancy is probably making a lot more now as one of the longest running personalities in the company.

‘Chicks in the Office’ Talking Negotiating Agreements

When Ria Ciuffo a Fran Marianowho hosts the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, appeared on the “Trading Secrets” podcast. in 2021, they offered an Inside Barstool look at the company’s contract negotiations.

Mariano said their second Barstool contract (in September 2018) was a huge moment for the podcast hosts.

“It only took us a year to get a new contract that was double the amount we started on,” she shared. “When we heard the number the second time, we were like, ‘Oh this works.'”

Ciuffo said their contracts are always “performance based” by looking at the success of the “Chicks in the Office” brand as a whole. He also noted that all the deals their brand gets go through Barstool’s sales department.

“I feel we are compensated through our salary,” Ciuffo said. “I feel stable in the way I’m paid.”

The ‘Call Her Father’ from It All

The year was 2020 and “Call Her Daddy” was hosted by two people – our now single dad Alex Cooper and pre-contest Sofia Franklin. Regular listeners of the podcast wondered if there was drama with the show when the ladies appeared to be speaking in code. Then, the truth came out.

To spare you all the details all these years later, one of the problems was that Cooper and Franklyn had contract disputes with Barstool before their friendship unraveled.

Cooper told listeners during a podcast episode in May 2020 that she and Franklyn signed a “three-year contract” making $75,000 in their first year, $85,000 the second year and $100,000 the third year. They got a raise during their first year together, then Cooper got an extra pay bump for handling the production side of the podcast as well. (She did not share this with Franklin.)

Following the success of the podcast, the girls started asking for more money. However, Franklyn’s girlfriend at the time (who eventually began shopping the podcast to other networks) allegedly convinced the podcast hosts that they should be asking for $1 million. Portnoy heard about the show being shopped around – which led to the famous “rooftop meeting” between Barstool Sports founder Cooper and Franklyn.

The deal they were offered was $500,000 and ownership of the show. Cooper was a member of the ship’s board and Franklyn was not — and that’s how they parted ways. Cooper stayed at Barstool until June 2021 and went on to sign massive deals with Spotify and SiriusXM.