We Decided To Mess Around And Create The Greatest Esports Team And Organization Known To Mankind: Barstool HooliganZ
Introducing Barstool HooliganZ - Barstool Sports Official Esports Organization/Team
So what the hell is going on? How did we get here? Well, I'm not too sure, considering Barstool has never really had that "E-Gaming" (great CBS blog) presence so coveted by the powers that be. All that I know is when I started writing for Barstool Philly wayyyyyyyy back when in 2011, I was the greatest Mario Kart 64 player on Earth (now second to only Jason Kelce). Throughout the years in and around Philadelphia, I challenged anyone who could be the best to beat the best. $100 biscuits to whoever could take me down at Kart, which led to some glory filled times like taking down 48 compadres in a live MK64 tournament at a local watering hole:
And some dark days, like being ganged up on by 3 Massholes in a bout for tattoos (even Tom Brady loses Super Bowls, folks):
And then in late 2016, we moved to NYC. Almost immediately on Halloween night, Coley and I had a battle of might in the art of Mario Kart 64 where the defeated would:
COLEY: Receive a tattoo of Smitty's choice
SMITTY: Receive a new legal middle name of Coley's choice (a bet that made my mother cry).
Over 12K people tuned live into Facebook Live (remember when we were told that would be the next biggest thing? That was cute -RIP Drivetime) to see what would happen, which made us go, "Holy shit, people actually watch other people play video games? That's a thing?" I mean, shit, the Cubs in the middle of the World Series "randomly" started playing Mario Kart 64 in their clubhouse the next day. And thus, Barstool Gametime was (kinda) born. It took a little bit of convincing from the likes of myself, Coley, Clem, Hank, and others, but after a few months we were able to organize somewhat of a brand:
Good times were to be had. Over the first few years there were major ups (millions upon millions of views, huge mainstream guests) and big time downs (kicked out of multiple streaming rooms in the office, banned from Twitch...twice), but the brand kept growing. It started with a weekly in office stream with Barstool people and guests, but really started to take off when myself and Devlin would play through the night, almost every damn night, in early 2018. Here is some history from that 2017 - 2019 time summed up in video form:
And now it's 2020, the biggest year yet for gaming at Barstool. Gametime on social media (thanks to the behind the scenes work of Devlin and his team) has EXPLODED. IG: 435K+ followers, Twitter 100K+ followers, YouTube 74K subs, TikTok...over 1 MILLION(!!!) followers (GeneralSmitty1v1 not included in that but with 32K of just random gameplay clips). All social accounts with amazing engagement leading to millions upon millions of views.
Then there's Twitch, where our original content is broadcasted live before being clipped and cut up to go out on social media and the blog. The following, viewership, and support has been nothing short of incredible on the platform in 2020. Don't believe us? All the numbers are public. I dare you to take a look at them and say nobody's watching or this isn't working or I'm shit (I am, but in many other ways than this). Go ahead. The stats are right here - LOOK THEM UP.
Oh, and a little brand called Pardon My Take lead by Honk and Coach Duggs have joined the Barstool Twitch team. Not sure if you've heard of them, but they seem to be doing just fine, too (here are PMT's incredible numbers). Not to mention Balls, our house pro Muj, and others who have stepped up to the plate, specifically during this Quarantine period. The effort has been outrageous. Over the past 3 months the hours streamed on each channel have been borderline barbaric:
Twitch.tv/pardonmytake (Honk, Duggs, PFT) - 229 Hours Steramed
Twitch.tv/glennyballsbarstool - (Balls!) 133 Hours Streamed (Balls also joins a LOT while not directly on stream, so I'd at least double this figure)
Twitch.tv/fricke_barstool (House Pro Muj - He's "Different") - 380 Hours Streamed
Twitch.tv/barstoolsports (Smitty) - 486 Hours Streamed
An incredible effort shown by all, and a huge thanks to all of them and the entire behind the scenes crew (Logan, Devlin, TJ, Blaise, Kareem, Unfiltered, Aaron, Riley, Youngstown Bob, ALL of the Twitch mods, anyone who has ever clipped, and many, many more).
So what's next? Oh, yeah, Barstool HooliganZ - Our own fucking Esports squad and organization. It's been a long time coming, but this is what's going to put Barstool MORE on the map in the gaming industry that's worth, carry the two, hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars.
Introducing the inaugural members of Barstool Sports Esports Team: The Hooliganz:
General Smitty (Team Captain): SIGNED.
First Officer Honk: SIGNED.
Major Muj: SIGNED.
Private Balls/Sergeant Stains/Benedict Balls: SIGNED.
Coach Rone: SIGNED.
Is Barstool HooliganZ solely going to be us four jabroni's on the sticks with Rone as the skipper? Of course not (Side Note: There are ongoing negotiations for one Senor Wide Dog to come on as the official team owner - TBD). This is just the beginning. Having a real, official Esports organization gives us the ability to bring on anyone and everyone that we choose to become one of the HooliganZ. We can legitimately sign a HUGE name to the HooliganZ, if we so please. Could we afford the likes of Nickmercs, Aydan, Tfue, Ninja, or any gigantic gaming professional/streamer to come aboard? Before I'd say not a chance a fuck, but it's someway, somehow not that far out of the realm of possibilities. Additionally, can we now fuck around like 100 Thieves, Faze, and Optic and bring on a full CSGO, Valorent, League Of Legends or any other competitive squad to compete around the world under the Barstool brand?
YUP.
Nothing is off limits. And arguably most importantly, we're looking to add common men/women/however you choose to be involved with the cause. We desire the next big thing to be apart of the Hooliganz. Want to get your name out there and live the dream? Here's your chance -
Introducing "Tryout Tuesdays":
We've done this the past few weeks, but now it's an official thing. People can submit to our Discord HERE to play on stream and "Tryout" for the HooliganZ. You'll battle with myself and another member of the squad to see if you are worthy. Can't make any promises, naturally, but there have been a few worthy Lads who have played the past few weeks who have raised some eyebrows. Make no mistake about it, we would LOVE to have the next Fortnite World Cup champion, COD GOD, and/or superstar streamer start out and build as one of the HooliganZ. Don't talk about it, be about it.
That's about it...for now. Like I said, this is just the beginning. Join up with The Lads.
Barstool Hooliganz: Be Uncommon.
