Saratoga has a way of doing this to people. You go up once, you see the grandstand, you watch a few races with a drink in your hand, and suddenly you're the guy telling everyone at the office it's the best sporting venue in America. Dave Portnoy is now that guy.
Portnoy raving about the upstate New York racing mecca on Wake Up Barstool the morning after his weekend at the track.
"Saratoga really is a special place" is the kind of line that sounds like a Chamber of Commerce ad until you actually go. The Spa is the oldest organized sporting venue in America still operating, the meet is a six-week summer ritual for racing diehards, and the town itself turns into a giant party for the duration. Portnoy showing up and being floored by it is the most predictable outcome possible.
What's more interesting is what comes next. Wake Up Barstool, the FS1 morning show that's been Portnoy's new daily playground, looks like it's plotting a field trip — and the on-screen graphics during the segment basically confirmed it.
The show's set with an 'On Deck: Dave at Saratoga' chyron sitting at the bottom of the screen.
A live Wake Up Barstool from Saratoga would be a layup. The track gives them backdrop, atmosphere, built-in betting content, and a constant supply of degenerate gambling stories — basically the entire Barstool brand promise wrapped into one location. If the chyron is to be believed, it's coming sooner rather than later, and Portnoy's weekend was the scouting trip.
For now, file this one under "things to watch this summer." The Saratoga meet doesn't wait for anyone, and if Dave is already this fired up after one weekend, the live show isn't a question of if — it's when.