Jacobs Rep: Jeremy Jacobs Did Not Donate $5,000 to David Portnoy
If you’re not familiar with David Portnoy, the owner and founder of Barstool Sports, congratulations. But if you are familiar, then you probably know that he’s decided to run for mayor of Boston. His candidacy was a bit up in the air earlier this week. On Monday, Portnoy posted that he was going to drop out of the race, unless he could raise $15,000 by the next day. As the cash started pouring in immediately from his loyal followers, El Pres, as Portnoy is known on Barstool, tweeted about one very surprising donation he’d received:
Umm the B’s owner Jeremy Jacobs just donated 5K to my campaign?Too bad the max is 500 but I’ll take it.
— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 13, 2013
Say what? I’ve spent a lot of time reporting on Jeremy Jacobs’s history of political donations, but this one surprised me. I figured it was probably a joke. After all, Portnoy is best known for running a website that is, to put it politely, not exactly a den of enlightenment. You’d think endorsing daily “smoke shows” wouldn’t be the brand the Bruins want to project. I was ready to dismiss it, but then I read Portnoy’s next tweet:
And for those asking it means we have to refund $4500
— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 13, 2013
Wait, so is he serious about this? Because, let’s be honest, it would be sort of great if Jeremy Jacobs was funding the El Pres campaign. Sadly, though, it looks like not. According to Wendy Watkins, the top spokesperson for Delaware North, the Jacobs’s company, Jeremy Jacobs did not ever make a political donation to David Portnoy. “We obviously keep track of contributions by Delaware North and family members and there is absolutely no record,” she told me.
So, sorry, fans. Nothing to see here, unless something slid by Watkins (and we’ll know when financial disclosures get released later on). As it turns out, Portnoy was able to raise his $15,000 without any help from Jacobs—$16,491 as of this moment, actually—so it looks like he’ll be sticking around for at least a little while longer, endorsed by Jacobs or not.
