Barstool Sports founder and renowned pizza lover, Dave Portnoy, hosted more than 10,000 strong at his third annual One Bite Pizza Festival on Randall’s in New York City on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Portnoy emphasized that the event goes beyond trying some of his highest rated pizzas, and discussed some of the latest partnerships that have bolstered the Barstool brand.
“The best part for me is we have all these independent pizzerias,” Portnoy told Fox. “We’ve almost become like an extended family, like the pizzerias know each other, I know all the owners, some of these places we really turned around their livelihoods.”
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“The small business component is by far the best,” Portnoy added.
The Barstool Sports empire, which has generated hundreds of millions in revenue, expanded from what once was a free print newspaper handed out on the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, to a multi-platform media giant with notable reach.
Most recently, Fox Sports announced a partnership with Barstool featuring Dave himself joining in pre-game broadcasts.
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“I love being on the campuses,” Portnoy explained. “There is nothing like a college football vibe, so I’m having a good time.”
As for his large format pizza party, the Medium Rare entertainment group, who produced the event, also sat down with Fox News Digital to discuss how the seemingly impossible idea became a reality.
“[Portnoy] said, look, I’d love to do a pizza festival, but I heard it can’t be done,” Medium Rare co-founder Adam Richman told Fox News Digital. “[Portnoy] said I’ve been trying for 10 years to do a pizza fest. If you guys think you could actually figure it out, let’s do a Pizza Fest.”
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“Here we are three years later and almost 30,000 people have attended over the last three years,” Richman added. “40 of the best pizzerias in the country come every year.”
Portnoy told Fox that the festival is here to stay, and alluded to other locations as possibilities for his next big event.
“We’ll see if we’re in New York, Chicago, Vegas, we’ll see,” Portnoy added.
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