• by Sara Guaglione , January 24, 2018

Barstool Sports has raised an additional $15 million from majority owner Chernin Group, an investment firm led by former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin, to create branded products and properties and expand the amateur-boxing league it acquired in November.

Barstool Sports, a blog that attracts a young, male, sports-focused audience, also plans to roughly double its staff to 160 by hiring more writers, video producers and podcast hosts, according to Bloomberg.

A source told Bloomberg the latest funding round values Barstool Sports at about $100 million. The Chernin Group, which bought its majority stake in January 2016, has invested about $25 million in the website to date.

Now, the site wants to exhance its business. It is looking into creating its own branded alcohol and maybe its own bar, too.

It is also exploring additional business opportunities for Rough N Rowdy, the amateur boxing league from West Virginia that pits regular people against each other in the ring. Barstool Sports may expand the league into reality shows and features on fighters, as well as fights in other locations.

Also, Barstool Sports wants to start selling subscriptions for exclusive content around podcasts, or online Q&As with talent and personalities, CEO Erika Nardini told Bloomberg.

These plans for growth follow a rough year for Barstool Sports. In October, ESPN cancelled a Barstool Sports podcast after just one episode over offensive comments made against women by its hosts. The site is known for its brusque and often controversial language and content.

This month, one of its high-profile bloggers, Kevin Clancy (also known as "KFC"), issued a public apology after being caught in a cheating scandal.