Renowned businesswoman Erika Nardini has accomplished great things in her career and left a lasting impression on the media and marketing scene. In her capacity as CEO of Barstool Sports, she oversaw the business’ explosive expansion and turned it into a major force in pop culture and sports.
Nardini has attracted praise and recognition for her strategic vision and strong leadership. Even though her exact financial situation is unknown, her influence on Barstool Sports and the industry at large makes her an influential figure. As a result, people who are interested in the relationship between media, sports, and entrepreneurship may be curious about her net worth.
Erika Nardini Net Worth
With a net worth of $12 million, Erika Nardini is a successful businesswoman, producer, and podcaster from the United States of America. It is the position of Chief Executive Officer of Barstool Sports that has brought Erika Nardini, who is also known by the name Erika Ayers Badan, the most notoriety. In January of 2024, she announced that she would be leaving Barstool.
Barstool Sports has a larger audience than ESPN Digital, Turner, “The New York Times,” and “The Washington Post,” and was ranked among the top 50 US publishers by Nielsen. Erika was the chief marketing officer of AOL from 2013 to 2015, and she had previously held executive marketing positions at Microsoft and Yahoo!
Additionally, Nardini has executive produced the podcasts “Pardon My Take” (2018–2021) and “The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co” (2021) for Barstool Sports as well as the television shows “The Barstool Rundown: Live from Houston” (2017–2021), “Barstool Sports Advisors” (2018), and “Barstool Yak” (2021). “Token CEO,” a podcast that Erika hosts is billed as “an explicit business pod for people without a business degree.”
Erika Nardini’s Biography
On November 6, 1975, in Colorado, Erika Kathryn Ayers gave birth to Erika Nardini. Her parents are Richard and Mina Ayers. Regarding Mina and Richard, Nardini stated in a 2021 interview, “My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me. They worked in education as teachers and professors, so we didn’t have a lot. They let me know that anything that I wanted, I had to work for. If I liked certain brands and clothes, if I wanted to have new clothes to go back to school, then I had to go bus tables at a restaurant.”
Erika was born and raised primarily in Vermont and New Hampshire. Colby College in Maine awarded her a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Erika Nardini’s Personal Life
On October 11, 2003, Erika tied the knot with Brett Nardini. Together, they have two kids, Cannon Gleason Nardini and Turin Jean Nardini. The “Daily Mail” revealed in April 2021 that Erika “left her banker husband for her married squash coach.” She apparently eventually wed Yvain Badan, the squash instructor, and started going by Erika Ayers Badan after that.
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Erika Nardini’s Career
Before moving to marketing, Ayers started her career in the legal department at Fidelity Investments. She worked for Demand Media as the senior vice president of sales and marketing. She has held executive marketing jobs at Microsoft and Yahoo! before that. She served as AOL’s chief marketing officer from 2013 until 2015.
Ayers was appointed CEO of Barstool Sports in 2016. The company’s forays into multimedia, merchandise, streaming, and pay-per-view programming were overseen by Ayers. In 2017, as part of its pay-per-view expansion, the business bought the amateur boxing league Rough N’ Rowdy.
In her first year as CEO, Barstool Sports’ valuation increased from $15 million to $30 million. In 2018, it reached $100 million. Ayers was listed by Fast Company as one of its “Most Creative People in Business” in 2018, highlighting her leadership at Barstool Sports’ growth into merchandise and multimedia. She was placed 25th on Forbes’ list of the “Most Powerful Women In U.S. Sports” that same year.
In 2019, she held the 19th position on The Big Lead’s compilation of “The 75 Most Powerful People in the Sports Media Business.” She was listed as one of the “Notable Women in the Business of Sports” by Crain’s New York that year. Ayers was listed as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Sports” by Adweek in both 2020 and 2017.
Ayers was elected to the WWE board of directors in 2020, and in September of 2022, he announced his resignation. Erika served on Torchy’s Tacos’ board of directors as well.
Ayers talked about how Barstool Sports expanded under her leadership, going from a $15 million valuation in 2016 to $450 million in 2020, in an interview with Digiday. Ayers predicted that the company would make more than $200 million in revenue in September 2021, more than tripling its $100 million revenue from the previous year.
Under Erika’s direction, Barstool Sports advanced further into live events and streaming in 2022 by organizing and airing its inaugural Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl and College Basketball Invitational.
Additionally, Barstool Sports introduced TwoYay, a NIL marketplace platform that links sponsors and collegiate athletes directly, in 2022. Erika became a member of the Premier Lacrosse League board of directors in March of 2022.
Ayers is a top player in the U.S. betting space and podcasting by Business Insider, one of Variety’s Most Impactful Women in Entertainment of 2023, a recipient of Crain’s Notable Women in Sports, AdWeek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports, Cynopsis’ Top Women in Media, and Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in Sports.
Vanity Fair published a long piece about Ayers’ role in propelling Barstool Sports’ popularity in its September 2023 issue. The New York Post announced on January 15, 2024, that Ayers will be leaving Barstool Sports. She declared in a video posted on X the next day that she was going to take up her position as CEO of Barstool Sports.