University of Toledo students started showing up to Lot 8 in the early afternoon Tuesday, hours before the Barstool Tailgate Show. By the time it began at 5:30 p.m., at least 1,000 people were in attendance.
That was hardly unusual considering the immense popularity of the less-than-two-decades-old media empire that appeals directly to the coveted 18-to-34-year-old demographic through sports, gambling, pop culture, and sex appeal.
The surprising part is how big Barstool Sports has become in such a short amount of time, as the company sent a thunderbolt through the media ecosystem, becoming an alternative to ESPN by pushing the envelope and capitalizing on what consumers crave: information via entertainment.