If you asked Dan Katz to describe himself, he would say he’s a regular guy that happened to become a prominent Internet personality. Also fondly known as Big Cat, the online personality is a co-host on Barstool Sports’ podcast Pardon My Take. Barstool Sports is a sports blog that focuses mainly on sports news and highlights. Pardon, My Take has, over time, featured several guest appearances and sports commentary, with the podcast’s episodes available on iTunes. Ranking amongst the top sports podcasts in the United States in 2019, Pardon My Take receives up to 60 million American listeners every week, a 17% rise from the numbers in 2018.
Coincidentally, Dan Katz has a namesake in Texas that’s also a radio personality. Acting as Texas’s Public Radio’s news director, the radio personality is in charge of the newsroom’s day-to-day management. He is also in charge of news and journalism efforts and serves as part of the station’s executive leadership team. The parallels with Dan ‘Big Cat’ Katz are quite striking, but the Big Cat is the focus of this post.
What We Know About Dan Katz
Big Cat was born Daniel Katz in West Newton, Massachusetts on January 30, 1985. Though details of his elementary education aren’t available, Dan Katz attended Newton North High School. According to the school’s alumni page, he graduated in 2003. The podcaster spent a good amount of his childhood in Chicago with his parents, but he hasn’t disclosed who they are or what they do. It’s also unknown if Katz has siblings or not. For his university degree, he attended the University of Wisconsin.
Dan Katz started with Barstool Sports long before he created the podcast show, Pardon My Take. He joined the company in his 20s as one of its first content creators. In early 2016, The Chernin Group acquired Barstool Sports by buying a majority stake. Though no official numbers are available, reports have stated that Dan Katz is part of Barstool Sports employees that received a stake in the company after its acquisition by Chernin.
After the acquisition, Katz remained a prolific staff member and was given more room to work with. Pardon, My Take was first launched in February 2016, with Katz co-hosting with Eric Sollenberger, popularly known as PFT Commenter. Before this, PFT Commenter was part of the sports website SB Nation to join Barstool Sports. Thanks to Pardon My Take’s success, ESPN hired Dan Katz to host the late-night talk show Barstool Van Talk. The show was canceled after one episode following controversies about misogyny surrounding the company, Barstool.
Pardon, My Take is not the only place Dan Katz has featured in though. The podcaster has also had guest appearances in other shows like PFT Live, Men in Blazers, and The Dan Patrick Show. Not only that, but he was also a writer in 2017 for the TV series The Barstool Rundown: Live from Houston. Katz has also worked on The Ryen Russillo Show.
More Facts You Need to Know About the Podcast Host
1. Controversies surrounding Dan and Barstool Sports
Pardon My Take’s parent company Barstool Sports has gotten embroiled in several controversies over the years. In 2017, Dan Katz got dragged into a controversy after Barstool’s president Dave Portnoy made inappropriate comments referring to ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown host, Sam Ponder in a blog post. After ESPN greenlit Barstool Van Talk, Ponder reminded Katz of the offensive article, written in 2014, with a tweet that had a screenshot attached. The comments, which led to Van Talk’s cancellation, were part of an editor’s note written by Dave Portnoy in the 2014 article.
2. His new podcast and how it came about
Dan Katz joined forces with professional baseball player Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez to create a new podcast called The Corp in December 2018. The podcast’s first season featured several guests including Barbara Corcoran, Kobe Bryant, 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, Mike Francesa, and Barry Sternlicht, among others. The idea for the podcast was conceived after A-Rod made several appearances on Pardon My Take.
3. Dan Katz’s social media popularity
Dan Katz is a popular guy. The talk show host boasts over 900k followers on Twitter with more than 500k followers on Instagram. Facebook isn’t left out, as his official page has over twelve thousand likes to its name.
4. Is he married or dating someone?
Though he isn’t a married man, Dan Katz is in a happy relationship with his girlfriend. However, he doesn’t share any personal details about who she is, but he has shared that they both live together in Chicago, Illinois. On March 26, 2019, Katz took fans by surprise when he announced that he was going to be a father in June of the same year.
