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Taylor Lewan, Will Compton, Dave Portnoy. Getty Images(3)
Contract negotiations are a hot topic, especially when Barstool Sports personalities are involved.
The “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan are in the midst of negotiating a new deal with the media company, and while that may have hurt their chances of winning Surviving bar stool season 4, it also raised questions about the future of the former NFL stars at Barstool.
“Right now the ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ crew is in negotiations for a bag on the next contract,” Compton shared during his Surviving bar stool confessional in January 2025. “You must think if you are Dave [Portnoy] and Dan [“Big Cat” Katz]you can’t have the ‘Bussin With the Boys’ guys run wild and win $250,000.”
The former footballer, who won Season 3 in 2024, was voted off the show shortly after his co-host, Lewan.
“To win a quarter of a million dollars and then potentially throw twos at us at the end of the year,” Compton continued. “So my hat goes off. tip of the hood. Dave, Big Cat, big game boys.”
Getty Images (3) Barstool Sports is (almost) always making headlines for something – and they’re undoubtedly well paid to do just that. Grace O’Malley announced her departure from the company in December 2024 following a friendship breakup with longtime bestie Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia (more on that here) and has since spilled the beans on what […]
Keep scrolling for more details on the ‘Bussin With the Boys’ podcast:
Who is “bussin” with the boys’ hosts?
Compton, a former NFL linebacker, signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He joined the Tennessee Titans in 2018 for one year before signing with the New Orleans Saints in 2019 and later the Las Vegas Raiders. He returned to the Titans for a second stint in 2020 before returning to the Raiders in late 2021. In September 2023, Compton announced his retirement from professional football.
Lewan, meanwhile, was drafted as a tackle for the Titans in 2014 and remained with the organization for his entire career, which ended in 2023 after sitting out the 2022 season with a knee injury.
When did ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ join barstools?
Compton and Lewan launched the podcast with the Barstool Sports Network in 2019.
How Much Money Do ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ Podcast Hosts Make?
Compton talked about the deals he and Lewan made with Barstool on an April 2024 episode of the “Next Up With Adam” podcast.
“Originally, [Barstool said] we go 50/50, you get the IP. We said no, but we’re going 60/40, and the moment we eclipse $1 million, it goes up to 70/30 [in] our favor,” explained the former athlete. “They were on it, then I thought, ‘F—, I think we f—ing played ourselves’.”
Their “second deal” with the company was considered a “competitive offer,” meaning they couldn’t shop their show around. Compton said he and Lewan have since entered into a “beneficial” partnership with Barstool.
“Me personally, I wanted to quit Barstool. I think they’re the best brand for us at this point,” Compton said. “We end up settling for a $3 million mg a year. We have the benefit of that, every dollar earned after $3 million.”
Is ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ renewing their barstool sports contract?
After Compton expressed that the “Bussin’ With the Boys” co-hosts were in the middle of contract negotiations for Surviving bar stoolBig Cat confirmed the former NFL star’s speculation.
“Dave and I didn’t want Taylor or Will to win $250,000 cash on the Barstool Network and then be, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going to a competitor,’ two seconds later,” Big Cat said during a January 2025 episode of the competition series .
Stars from Hollywood, sports, comedy and more are finding huge financial success as they continue to share stories behind the microphone. With more and more pop culture consumers around the world streaming podcasts as voraciously as music, TV and movies, companies like Spotify, SiriusXM and Amazon are willing to pay big bucks to secure the top tier […]
Portnoy spoke about this further during an episode of “The Unnamed Podcast” that same month.
“During the filming [Surviving Barstool] I thought we were going to lay them off, but when I walked in, I knew they were evaluating,” noted the Barstool Sports founder. “They had an offer. They said: ‘We will look at the world, see what it is'”.
Portnoy “didn’t want” to give either of them $250,000 from the game’s winnings and have them leave the company. When asked during the same podcast episode if Compton and Lewan would be leaving the company, Portnoy played coy. “I’ll let them deal with it how they want to deal with it,” he said.
During Surviving bar stool final in January 2025, the question remained unanswered.
“When we played that game, I thought they were coming back to Barstool,” Portnoy said. (Surviving bar stool was filmed in September 2024. The contestants returned for a live finale and reunion in January 2025.)
Compton hinted that “negotiations are still going on” with the show.
“The bussin future with us has nothing to do with this show,” Portnoy explained. Right now, “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast episodes are still being released under the Barstool name.