Iga Obrycka, general manager of Barstool Nashville, has died at age 28.
On Jan. 30, Barstool Sports CEO and founder Dave Portnoy revealed the news of Obrycka’s death with a tribute shared on X. “More sad news in Barstool Family,” he began the post.
“We suddenly lost Iga Obrycka this week,” Portnoy, 47, continued. “Iga basically ran our Bar group for us. If you ever went to Barstool Nashville you probably saw her there. I would have hired her for any position she wanted at our company because she was that smart and driven.”
Portnoy concluded, “Just incredibly sad news and another cruel reminder not to take a minute for granted. RIP Iga.”
Obrycka died on Wednesday, Jan. 29 in Nashville, according to an online obituary. Her cause of death was not stated.
Barstool Nashville penned a heartfelt tribute to Obrycka on Instagram, calling her “the leader, heart, and soul” of the Tennessee-based company.
“Our heart goes out to her family, those that she was born into and those of us she chose to be in her life. There will never be another like her and she will be with us always,” continued the caption, which noted that they will be holding “a celebration of life” in her honor.
Obrycka is from Poland and came to the United States in the early 2000s “with an unrelenting passion to restart her life and make her dreams a reality,” her obituary reads. She moved to Nashville, where she became “one of the strong pillars of the business community.”
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News of Obrycka’s death comes shortly after the death of fellow Barstool employee Jonathan Stanko, who died on Jan. 6 at age 32 less than a year after announcing his cancer diagnosis. He had worked as a production technician for the company since May 2021.
“He worked in our NY offices for close to 4 years and was well liked by literally everybody he worked with. (Very rare at Barstool),” Portnoy wrote about Stanko, in part, in a tribute shared on X.
“It’s the 1st time we’ve had to deal with something this heavy in the 20 years of Barstool. A cruel reminder not to take a day for granted because tomorrow isn’t promised to anybody. #stankostrong,” added Portnoy.
Picture this: You’re born into a life where the cameras are always flashing, people have seen your breakfast on Instagram before you’ve even digested...
