Portnoy reportedly turns down $10 million to attend Saudi boxing event, Barstool’s Big Cat says

Dave Portnoy reportedly turned down a $10 million offer to attend a boxing match in Saudi Arabia, according to Barstool Sports personality Dan Katz, known on-air as Big Cat. Katz said the invitation came from Saudi boxing officials and that the offer was discussed in conversations about a high-profile appearance for Portnoy and his Barstool colleague. The exact event remains unclear, but the episode highlights the ongoing push by Saudi authorities to leverage celebrity appearances as part of their expanding boxing footprint.

During a Barstool Yak broadcast, Katz described a proposal for Portnoy and the Barstool team to attend a boxing match abroad. “There was a boxing match… for the two of us to attend and we talked on the phone and we were like, cause it was a s--- load of travel. And we were like, Give us like $15 million and we'll do it,” Katz said. He noted that the Saudi side suggested a $10 million figure, and the duo declined. “They can do 10 [million], and we were like, ‘No,’” Katz added. The timing and nature of the event remain unconfirmed, and Portnoy did not publicly comment on the offer.

The report comes as Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has increasingly invited celebrities to Riyadh Season events, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy to expand cultural and sporting programming under Vision 2030. Riyadh Season has featured high-profile boxing and other entertainment spectacles and is positioned as a showcase for the country’s growing role in global sports diplomacy. In recent weeks, promoters linked to Riyadh Season have recruited prominent figures to generate buzz around marquee bouts, including a widely discussed Crawford-Canelo clash staged in the United States with Saudi involvement in promotion and hype efforts.

The broader context for the talks includes the Saudi government’s ongoing effort to exert greater influence over boxing circuits and live events. In the lead-up to high-profile cards, organizers have leaned on social media personalities and entertainment figures to drive interest and viewership, a trend that has accelerated as Riyadh Season expands. For example, boxers and influencers were enlisted to promote a Crawford-Canelo bout through coordinated messaging, underscoring how celebrity reach intersects with the promotion of Saudi-hosted or Saudi-backed fights.

Yet even as Saudi-backed events draw attention from global viewers, the landscape for Barstool’s own programming has presented its own challenges. Portnoy and Barstool star Big Cat have faced scrutiny over their new morning show, Wake Up Barstool, which is positioned in the same timeslot previously occupied by the FS1 staple Undisputed. The debut week drew modest numbers by sports-talk standards, with daily viewership peaking around 20,000 in the first week but slipping in the second.

In the week following the Monday premiere, Wake Up Barstool’s numbers showed little improvement. The Tuesday-to-Friday broadcasts topped out around 20,000 views, but a second-week average sagged to roughly 12,000, with some episodes pulling as few as 7,000 viewers. Wednesday and Friday editions were not markedly stronger, and overall, Monday remained the strongest day, though even that audience figure was modest by national talk-show benchmarks. Portnoy has acknowledged that he is not fully satisfied with the product the show has produced so far, though he has indicated some days draw more consistent attention than others. Industry observers note that the climb for new programming can be steep, particularly when it competes with established morning-lineups.

The juxtaposition of Portnoy’s reported Saudi offer and the show’s tepid reception highlights a broader moment for Barstool: the company remains a powerful media brand with a large following, but the metrics for new ventures—whether celebrity-backed fight promotions or daily talk shows—continue to be scrutinized. The Saudi episode also underscores how celebrity influence and big-dollar incentives intersect with a region’s ambitious sports diplomacy efforts. If the Saudi boxing ecosystem continues to attract global names, it could reshape how offers are valued and how appearances are negotiated in the future.

For Portnoy, the question is whether the potential visibility from high-paying appearances abroad offsets the costs and logistical demands of such trips, especially as Barstool continues to expand its roster of content and live-event ventures. For Saudi organizers, the incentive remains clear: secure star power to bolster a growing boxing calendar, while leveraging Riyadh Season to broaden the appeal of the sport beyond its traditional markets. As the sport’s business shifts toward more global, celebrity-driven promotion, observers will be watching to see whether more offers of this scale are entertained or rejected in the pursuit of strategic partnerships and audience growth. The dynamic reflects a broader trend in sports media where billionaire-backed promotions and influencer-driven campaigns increasingly shape which events reach a global audience and how fans engage with the sport.