BOSTON (CBS) — The NFL might not have thought this one all the way through.
As part of its Draft-A-Thon effort to raise money for COVID-19 relief, the league offered a number of auctions during NFL Draft weekend. One of those auctions offered fans the chance to bid on the opportunity to watch Monday Night Football with commissioner Roger Goodell, in his basement “fan cave” that’s served as the makeshift draft headquarters this week. The auction also offers two tickets to any NFL regular-season game.
The top bidder for that item has come forward as Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a man who may be the most prolific critic of Goodell in the entire world.
Portnoy shared his initial $50,000 bid on his Twitter page.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2020
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2020
Shortly after the tweets, the bidding skyrocketed from just over $22,000 to more than $100,000.
Eager to win, Portnoy promised that he’d stop at nothing, even if the bidding doesn’t close for another two weeks.
I may just start bidding against myself just to intimidate other bidders
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2020
I will go 7 figures without blinking
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2020
So this contest lasts 15 days. I’ll see you in 15 days with 30 min to go.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 25, 2020
Portnoy, a native of Swampscott, has long been a thorn in the side of Goodell and the NFL. He, along with three other Barstool employees, were arrested in 2015 for staging a protest at league headquarters in New York during the DeflateGate saga.
That was just the start of a rocky relationship between the media company and the NFL. Barstool employees were banned for Super Bowl week events, though Goodell pleaded ignorance when asked about that ban. After creating a T-shirt with Goodell sporting a clown nose, Portnoy printed some 70,000 towels featuring the graphic to give out to fans before the Patriots’ home opener following the Super Bowl LI victory.
Roger Goodell clown nose towels (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Portnoy was also thrown out of Super Bowl media night and kicked out of the stadium while attending Super Bowl LIII as a paying customer.
TD Garden just exploded. Here’s all the Patriots in attendance tonight, plus @stoolpresidente with a Goodell clown shirt: pic.twitter.com/M1Frmqb63D
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) February 8, 2019
The genesis of Portnoy’s feud with Goodell was seemingly the years-long battle between the Patriots and the commissioner during DeflateGate, but years later, the fight has not yet cooled.
The NFL has worked hard to keep Portnoy separate from the commissioner at all NFL-sanctioned events. Considering the history, it will be interesting to see how the league handles this matter.