Pardon My Take (abbreviated "PMT") is a comedic sports podcast released three times per week by Barstool Sports. It is hosted by Dan Katz ("Big Cat") and PFT Commenter. The podcast debuted on February 29, 2016. It first appeared on the US iTunes charts on March 2, 2016, in the number one position.
The podcast's audience generally ranges between 750,000 and 1.5 million listeners per episode. In 2016, Apple named Pardon My Take one of the best podcasts of 2016, and in 2017, The Big Lead ranked Katz and PFT Commenter as the number one sports media talents under 40. In 2018, Pardon My Take was the 14th most downloaded podcast of the year on iTunes.
Pardon My Take listeners are affectionally referred to as "AWLs" or award-winning listeners, in reference to the "Podcast Listeners of the Year" award, given out by the podcast yearly on its award show spoof episode, "The Takies".
History Pardon My Take was first launched in February 2016 when PFT Commenter left the sports website SB Nation to join Barstool Sports. Longtime Barstool contributor Big Cat had been regularly communicating with PFT Commenter through Twitter prior to 2016 and the two teamed up to create Pardon My Take.
Since its inception, Pardon My Take has used satire to comment on traditional sports media, particularly ESPN and some of its notable personalities. The show's name is a play on the titles of ESPN television shows Pardon the Interruption and First Take. The logo of the podcast, which took graphic elements from the two ESPN shows, prompted ESPN to send a cease-and-desist letter to Barstool Sports soon after the launch of the podcast. Barstool did change the logo.
Beginning in early March 2020, Pardon My Take began to be affected by the COVID-19 virus, as it is a podcast that revolves around current events in the sporting world. To keep the show interesting and running 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), PFT Commenter and Big Cat implemented a new segment, usually at the end of the podcast, to review popular TV shows such as "Love Is Blind", documentaries such as "Tiger King" and "The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters", and movies such as the comedy sports film "The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicker". The two co-hosts still provide interviews with popular sports figures and other celebrities in each episode. They also implemented a Dungeons and Dragons segment on May 23, 2020, with Timm Woods as the Dungeon Master. The sports hiatus also signaled the beginning of the "Mount Flushmore" series, a play on their "Mount Rushmores"' of the past, some of the topics they used have been fears, places to be drunk, toppings, appetizers, and states of the United States of America.
In 2025, Pardon My Take was the most popular sports podcast based on online popularity and ratings/reviews from Spotify and Apple.
Beginning in January 2026, Pardon My Take began airing its video podcasts exclusively featured on Netflix.
In March 2026, Pardon My Take won "Best Sports Podcast" at the IHeartRadio Podcast Awards.
Format Most Pardon My Take episodes consist of three parts. The hosts open the show with a recap of current sports news. News is followed by an interview with a sports personality, celebrity, journalist, or athlete. Frequent guests include Ryan Whitney, Blake Bortles, Blake Griffin, Brooks Koepka, Mark Titus, Ryen Russillo, Chris Long, Mike Florio, Jerry O’Connell, Scott Van Pelt, Dan Haren, and Max Homa. The show is closed with a collection of recurring original segments which vary episode to episode. Popular segments include: "Hot Seat, Cool Throne", "Who's Back of the Week", "Fyre Fest of the Week", and "Guys on Chicks". Occasionally, the Pardon My Take hosts will alter the show's format for special episodes, including their yearly recap show and their annual award show since 2016, the "Takies." The hosts have held video exit interviews with their guests. Most of the interviews throughout 2016 concluded by Big Cat asking the guest three questions—if the guest washed their apples, who the most famous person in the guest's cell phone was, and a third question tailored to each guest. This third question was often the most provocative one of the interview and began with Big Cat saying "a question I'm gonna ask, that you don't have to answer, but I'm gonna ask anyway."
For most of its history, the show opened by playing "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant and closed by playing (an often re-mixed version of) "Take On Me" by A-ha. In the August 27, 2024 episode, both songs were conspicuously absent, replaced by the PMT YouTube intro and outro music, and have not been heard on the podcast since. They were removed due to copyright issues.
Staff
Hosts +HostsYearsNotesDan "Big Cat" KatzFeb. 2016–PresentPFT Commenter (Eric Sollenberger)Feb. 2016–PresentHenry "Hank" LockwoodFeb. 2016–PresentCurrent third-chair; former producer
Booth Staff +StaffYearsRoleNotesHenry "Hank" LockwoodFeb. 2016-2022 (as producer)Head producerStopped being the producer when Liam was brought in. Stopped completely as producer when Max took over.Liam "Bubba" Henley2017-2022ProducerWas replaced by Max Dolente and became a general Barstool producerPug (Evan Winkler)2022-2026EditorLeft the podcast in 2026 and moved to the Barstool New York officeMax Dolente2022–PresentHead producerThe current main producer of the show; originally interviewed to be Dave Portnoy's producerMemes2021–PresentSocial MediaOriginal ran a fan account until the podcast officially hired himShane Amerio2022–PresentGraphicsHis favorite color is turquoise Zac Cornelius2025–PresentVibes/Misc.Hired by Big Cat to be on the Barstool Chicago "Cream Team." Originally interviewed with Jon GrudenKolten Jones2026–PresentEditorTook over for Pug; was already working at Barstool as a producer; former prank content creatorJack WyperOct. 2024–PresentEditor
Former Interns +InternYearsNotesJack Kennedy (KenJac)2016-2017First PMT intern; former host of Lights, Camera, BarstoolBilly Football (William Cotter)May 2017-Aug. 2017; Apr. 2020-July 2023 (suspended for June 2022)Left the podcast when it moved to ChicagoJake MarshMay 2018 - Aug. 2018; Apr. 2020 - June 2024Initially hired to parody Darren Rovell. Left the podcast to pursue a Play by Play Announcer dreamJilly Football2019-2020"Senior" internHewy2024-2024 Had a very brief intern stint of only a few weeks. Terms of his departure being investigated by Jerry O'Connell.
Lottery Ball Machine
History On August 28, 2020, Big Cat introduced a Ping-Pong Ball Lottery Machine to the Pardon My Take studio, creating a popular new segment. At the end of each show, hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter, along with supporting staff members Billy Football, Jake Marsh, PMTMemes, Liam "Bubba" Crowley, Hank, and producer Max, would each guess a number between 1 and 100.
In 2024, AWL DechDotDev launched a website to track the Lottery Ball Machine's history, aptly named Pardon My Balls. The results are now officially recorded on this platform.
The original lottery ball drawings in the New York office ran from August 28, 2020, to October 23, 2023. After relocating to the Chicago office in September 2023, all drawings from October 25, 2023, onward have been officially conducted in the new studio.
Memorable Moments Billy Football became the first to guess correctly, selecting 69 on December 4, 2020.
Over the next two years, all members of the podcast eventually guessed correctly—except Hank, whose streak of incorrect guesses lasted an astounding 988 days. That streak finally ended on May 12, 2023, when Hank correctly guessed the number 6.
On November 8, 2023, Hank made history by being the first to guess correctly on the new lottery ball machine in the Chicago office. His winning number, 52, was chosen in honor of the Khalil Mack bobblehead displayed in the studio.
During the show on April 25, 2024, Dan "Big Cat" Katz correctly guessed the lottery ball, selecting number 13 to honor Caleb Williams’ college number on the night he was drafted first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. The guess symbolized the hope and greatness Williams is expected to bring to the city. This marked Katz's second win with the new lottery ball machine, as his first win had been vacated following complaints from producer Max.
On December 4, 2024, following a prior executive order from President Pug, PFT and Memes were mandated to choose each other's lottery numbers. In a twist of fate, Memes selected the number 2 for PFT, and against all odds, the number 2 lottery ball was drawn. This marked PFT Commenter's first win in the new office, propelling him back to the top of the overall leaderboards. Meanwhile, Memes’ streak of misfortune continued, extending an impressive four-year drought without picking the correct lottery ball in either studio, despite his arguments that this instance counts as a correct guess (it doesn't).
Official Lottery Ball Standings +Top Players' Lottery Ball StandingsNameTotal WinsMickey Mouse Wins1Hank92PFT813Big Cat714Pug65Jake66Shane617Max518Billy49Zac310Jack311Memes112Kolten0
Blake of the Year History Blake of the Year (BOTY) is an annual competition put on by the PMT crew during the summer Takie Awards. Since 2018, participants have been selected based on whether they display qualities that Big Cat and PFT Commenter believe are typical of people named Blake. Examples of such are: a lax outlook on their profession; seeming to be an average dude; or just having the name Blake (some exceptions apply. See Brooks Koepka).
Originally, the rules for the competition were very simple. During a recording of the show, one of the hosts would call a Blake; whoever picked up first was ruled the winner. The timer would start at the moment of the host dialing and end once the Blake answered the call and spoke into the phone.
Competitors Regular participants are Blake Griffin, Blake Bortles and Brooks Koepka.
2018 Blake Bortles recorded a response time of 11.70 seconds while Blake Griffin missed the call after falling asleep on a plane in route to Las Vegas to participate in Team USA's training camp.
2019 This year the competition expanded to include Brooks "Blake" Koepka who reported a debut response time of 7.90 seconds. Blake Bortles was unable to be reached this year while Blake Griffin rebounded astoundingly by posting a record setting response time of 2.80 seconds, a record that still stands to this day.
2020 Blake Bortles posted a response time of 5.75 seconds but was narrowly beaten out by Brooks Koepka who recorded a response time of 5.50 seconds. Despite his competitors' incredibly quick response times, Blake Griffin continued his reign of dominance with a response time of 3.30 seconds, cementing himself as the first back-to-back or "Blake-to-Blake" champion in Blake of the Year history.
2021 In 2021, the rules were changed to a random number draw from a Chinese lottery machine. Each round the Blakes would pick a number 1-100, and if their number was selected they would be ruled the winner.
After an excruciatingly long competition, Blake Bortles became the second two-time winner in Blake of the Year history by having his lottery ball number called after nearly 30 minutes of play.
2022 In 2022, the BOTY competition shifted to a trivia gameshow format, where contestants answered a series of questions, and the Blake with the most correct answers earned the right to call a coin flip to decide the overall winner.
This year, the field narrowed back down to two participants after Brooks Koepka was suspended from competition following his signing with the LIV tour. After three rounds of trivia, Blake Bortles came up short when he failed to list all of the teams Blake Griffin had played for in his career. Griffin, on the other hand, correctly named all of the teams Bortles had played for, edging out the trivia win by a score of 5.5 to 5.