Ben Friedman is a blogger and podcast host, better known by Youngpageviews and his former role at Barstool Sports, both in Canada and in the US. Friedman was the head of Barstool Outdoors from 2017 to 2021 but left the company early that year amidst controversies about merchandise advertising.
Early Life
Ben Friedman was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he went to school. He was passionate about outdoor life and played hockey throughout his youth and high school. Friedman was also a fan of the St. Louis Blues hockey team and still loves hockey, although he does not play anymore. Ben Friedman gathered interest in hockey teams north of the border as well like the Toronto MapleLeafs.
Career at Barstool Sports Canada & the US
Friedman is known as a blogger and podcast host. His works at Barstool Outdoors Canada and Barstool Outdoors USA made him one of the most popular content creators at the digital media company, and it was a dream Friedman had since childhood. He began his career in the basement of his parents’ house with a goal to become an internet sensation across the US and up to Toronto, Canada and even further.
According to his own words, Friedman “formulated a game plan” sitting in his parent’s basement to get the attention of Barstool Sports in both Canada and the US. His goal was to present ideas on what he could do and why he would be valuable to the company. He made a music video by the name YoungPageviews and posted it, and after that, Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, followed him on Instagram. This also earned him a massive following on social media.
Friedman took full advantage of the opportunity to present his ideas to Portnoy by sending direct messages (DMs) incessantly for an interview and finally got his chance. Portnoy agreed to meet with him, and Friedman drove from St. Louis to New York City on a day’s notice. He got himself an albino wallaby and rushed to present the idea of Barstool Outdoors. Friedman also documented the entire journey on camera, and the idea impressed Portnoy.
After the interview, Friedman stayed at the office for four days and would be rewarded with a new opening to work on his Barstool Outdoors idea. Friedman moved to NYC to take his new job, and the YoungPageviews profile became a massive success for the media company from places like Toronto, Canada to New York City, USA.
Barstool Outdoors & Stool Scenes
Now a huge hit in Toronto, Canada and in all of the US, the same Ben Friedman had been an avid fan of Barstool Sports since 2009, and when Dave Portnoy agreed to meet him for an interview, he pitched the Barstool Outdoors idea, which focuses on outdoor and wildlife topics. Portnoy was impressed and hired him to run Barstool Outdoors. Friedman quickly built the page and started posting content.
Being an outdoors person, he would achieve incredible success with his content, frequently seen fishing, hunting, and spending time with wildlife.
Friedman would later become the host of Stool Scenes, a reality show documenting behind-the-scenes work at the Barstool Sports office airing from Florida USA all the way up to Toronto, Canada.
By the end of his career at the company, Ben Friedman had an amazing 120,000+ Instagram followers, giving him influencer status and much recognition as an internet sensation in the US as well as Canada and beyond.
Hobbies and Current Life
Ben Friedman is passionate about the outdoor lifestyle and has many hobbies involving spending time outside the house and traveling throughout Canada and the US.
People in Toronto, Canada all the way to Vancouver and throughout the USA know him for his fishing and hunting trips, catching pythons, sharks, and other wild adventures.
However, Ben Friedman is actually a private person and doesn’t share much about his personal life. He got engaged and quit his job as of February 2021.
