'Bussin' With the Boys' hosts address departure from Barstool Sports: 'We wanted to stay'

Bussin’ With the Boys is moving on from Barstool Sports.

Co-hosts and former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan addressed the elephant in the room just days after Dave Portnoy revealed their impending departure. According to Portnoy, a rival sports media company successfully poached Compton and Lewan, who described the offer as one they “ultimately could not say no to.”

“We wanted to stay with Barstool,” Compton shared. “Just like when we extended a couple of years ago, we wanted to stay with Barstool.”

Last week, Portnoy expressed regret over Compton and Lewan’s departure but acknowledged feeling pride that the company continues to be a factory for media talent. And suffice to say, neither of them wanted to leave.

“We love being a part of the ecosystem. We love the guys there, the camaraderie, the locker room vibes,” Lewan explained. “Like, Barstool is truly a company — Dave said on The Unnamed Show — people don’t want to leave Barstool for a reason. We have, for whatever reason, positioned ourselves to where other people, other sponsors, want to be part of Bussin’ With the Boys in a big way.”

According to Lewan, negotiations began during the tail end of Surviving Barstool.

From the start, the duo felt that only an extraordinary offer would persuade them to leave Barstool.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Compton said that he and Lewan were willing to take a “hometown discount” to keep BWTB at Barstool but admitted that Portnoy couldn’t come within 40 percent of their other offer on the table.

“Ultimately, it just didn’t work out because the numbers were so far apart,” Compton said.

As for their next chapter, Compton and Lewan stayed tight-lipped, promising that details about their future will surface in the coming months. However, rumors on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit suggest they may be joining Underdog Fantasy, a platform that has already lured away other Barstool alums.

My guy 🫂

— Will Compton (@_willcompton) January 21, 2025

If the rumors prove true, Compton and Lewan would join the ranks of an NFL content machine that’s added some pretty notable names like James Palmer, Jay Gruden and Colt McCoy, among several other high-profile additions. This move would only further Underdog Fantasy’s momentum as it continues to build a reputation as a major player in sports media.

“It sucks. I told Bussin’ I made what I think was my most aggressive move to keep them,” Portnoy said. “But this is the world that we’re in, really, and we’ve been in. Whether it’s Jenna Marbles, (Alex) Cooper, (Pat) McAfee, them, Caleb (Pressley), there’s always more value for a company taking talent than already here. But they’re like (Jared) Carrabis times a million. They got an offer that was so big, it’s like I can’t [match].”

Bussin’ With the Boys may be leaving Barstool, but Compton and Lewan’s chemistry and authenticity have turned their show into a juggernaut in the podcast space. And they’ll be the latest to try and prove that their show is big enough to thrive on any stage — not just under Barstool’s.