Salaries and contract negotiations for Barstool employees explained

Barstool sports (almost) always make headlines for something — and they're arguably well paid to do it.

Grace O'Malley announced his departure from the company in December 2024 after parting ways with a longtime bestie Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia (More on that, here) and has since spread the tea What brand has he worked for?.

“I did nothing while I was there. I had a salary and that was it,” O'Malley complained in a January 2025 appearance on the “This Past Weekend w/ Theo Vaughan” podcast. “I had the option to leave and I took it.”

O'Malley also claims former “Planbry Uncut” podcast cohost LaPaglia was paid “much more” than he was.

“I never made any money (podcast tour). The barstool took it,” he complained. “I didn't care either. I was happy there. I was just motivated to get the job.”

He's not the only Barstool personality to detail their salaries over the years:

Published by Grace O'Malley

After O'Malley's podcast claims, his former boss (and Barstool founder) Dave Portnoy shared the number. He said a January 2025 TikTok Videos That O'Malley's base salary was $175,000 a year and that he earned 70 percent of “whatever” was sold on their personal social media accounts.

“He got another $75,000 that way in 2024,” Portnoy continued. “(His interview) might be cut off, might be misconstrued a bit, but it bothers me when people think they're not getting their fair share of money. I think we've treated – as I've said from the start – Grace is great.”

Portnoy also addressed the pay gap with LaPaglia. “Bree was a very big personality,” he continued.

Portnoy explained that once Barstool brings back the personality's base salary, they proceed “fifty-fifty on every dollar.” “I don't like it when people think we scam our manufacturers, because we don't,” he adds.

Promotion of KFC

Kevin Clancy (known as Stulley's KFC) was named GM of comedy Barstool Sports in July 2023. He announced this news on his “KFC Radio” podcast At the time and shared that the career move came with a pay bump — but he didn't share specifics.

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

“I think I started with like 50 and then, every time I got 100 grand likes, I think I was like, 'Wow I'm making six figures doing this,'” he said. Elsewhere in the episode, Clancy states that his promotion did not warrant contract negotiations.

“Also I'm the only one in the world who started a job with more responsibility without getting a new contract,” he quips.

Clancy probably makes a lot more now as one of the company's longest-running figures.

'Chicks in the Office' Talk Sour Contract Negotiations

when Rhea Ciuffo And Fran MarianoAppeared on the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, who hosts “Trading Secrets” Podcast In 2021, they offered to take an inside barstool for company contract negotiations.

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

“It only took a year for us to get a new contract that was double the amount we started with,” he shared. “When we heard the number the second time, we were like, 'Oh it's working.'”

Ciuffo said their deal was always “performance-based” given the success of the “Chicks in the Office” brand overall. He also mentioned that all their brand deals go through the barstool sales department.

“I think we're compensated with our salary,” Ciuffo said. “I feel stable with the way I'm getting paid.”

It All's 'Call Her Daddy'

The year was 2020 and “Call Her Daddy” was hosted by two men – our now-single father Alex Cooper and former cohost Sophia Franklin. Regular listeners of the podcast wondered if there was drama on the show when the women were speaking in code. Then, the truth came out.

To spare you every detail all these years later, Cooper and Franklin had a contract dispute with Barstool before their friendship unfolded.

Cooper told the audience During a May 2020 podcast episode that he and Franklin signed a “three-year contract” making them $75,000 in the first year, $85,000 in the second year and $100,000 in the third year. They got a raise in their first year together, then Cooper got an additional pay bump to handle the production side of the podcast. (She did not share this with Franklin.)

After the success of the podcast, women started asking for more money. However, Franklin's then-boyfriend (who eventually began shopping the podcast to other networks) allegedly claimed that the podcast hosts should ask for their $1 million. Portnoy heard about the show being shopped around – leading to the infamous “rooftop meeting” between Cooper and Franklin, the founder of Barstool Sports.

They were offered $500,000 and ownership of the show. Cooper was on board and Franklin was not – that's how they split up. Cooper stayed at Barstool until June 2021 and signed massive deals with Spotify and SiriusXM.