Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was fed up with the referees and ready to quit football on a night where his $1 million Bills bet backfired.
After the Bills were stopped short on a fourth-and-1 call early in the fourth quarter of their AFC Championship game loss to the Chiefs, Portnoy posted a 52-second video to X where he ranted about the spot after Buffalo’s third-down completion, the spot on fourth down, the referees determining everything and how “I quit football.”
“This is the most disgusting thing,” Portnoy said. “I’m not watching football ever again. I quit football. I quit.”
Portnoy said in a video earlier in the week that he bet $1 million — which he said he made from President Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency meme coin — on the Bills to win Super Bowl 2025, which would’ve made him a $5.5 million profit if Buffalo defeated the Chiefs on Sunday and then the Eagles two weeks later.
And at the time of the controversial play, the Bills were leading the Chiefs, 22-21, and had just crossed midfield when faced with a third-and-3.
Allen completed a short pass to Kincaid, but the tight end’s knee was ruled down before he reached the first-down marker.
Then, after the Bills lined up, the Chiefs stuffed Allen on another Tush Push — a play they successfully shut down the entire game.
But Portnoy thought that Allen had gotten enough for a first down and blasted the two officials for their location when making the ruling.
“The biggest hosejob I’ve ever f—king seen,” Portnoy said to start the clip before the third-down snap occurred. “First of all, the third-and-3 play, this spot is disgusting. Knee’s not down. This is a first down. So that spot, off. That’s a bad spot right there by, I don’t know, half a yard right there? And then we’re gonna go for it on fourth down, which we all know what happens.
“But the fact that these refs, who decides where … first of all, this is clearly a first down. It’s like not even f–king close. And then what is this? That one ref is way past and another one’s a foot off, you just randomly decide where you’re throwing the football? What if the other guy got the spot?”
The Chiefs, who hadn’t topped 30 points all season, scored five plays later to take a seven-point lead, and they escaped with a 32-29 win to keep their bid for a three-peat intact.
Harrison Butker’s 35-yard field goal provided the go-ahead points, while Patrick Mahomes threw for 245 yards and a touchdown.