Baller League — a brand new six-a-side soccer league that has attracted help from legends like Ronaldinho, Gary Lineker, and Luis Figo — has raised $25mn from EQT Ventures because it appears to provoke a “new period” for the gorgeous sport.
German entrepreneur Felix Starck co-founded the Baller League final 12 months alongside former gamers Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski. The founders needed to alter the best way youthful audiences interact, view, and work together with the world’s hottest sport.
The league, which is now increasing from Germany to the UK and the US, contains shorter 30-minute matches which might be out there to stream on in style digital platforms comparable to YouTube, TikTok, and Amazon’s live-streaming service Twitch.
“Sport is not as straightforward as simply saying ‘look, we’re right here now, come and watch us,’” stated Starck. “That’s simply not how sport works any extra. It must be thrilling, and it must be genuine. These are the 2 phrases that we all the time use at Baller League.”
Alongside a few of the sport’s largest names, influencers Darren Jason Watkins Jr (KSI) and Olajide Olatunji (IShowSpeed) are additionally working with Baller League. The pair have a whopping 58 million YouTube subscribers between them.
KSI and IShowSpeed are set to steer the league’s newly arrange UK and US chapters, respectively. Ronaldinho, Lineker, Figo and different distinguished ex-players like John Terry, Alan Shearer and Freddie Ljungberg will function crew presidents.
The Baller League live-streamed its first matches from a repurposed aeroplane hangar in Cologne. It has quickly amassed practically a million followers throughout digital platforms. This has made it Germany’s high Twitch channel and one of many international high 5.
Baller League UK is ready to debut on 3 March 2025, with video games held each Monday by 19 Could. Matches will probably be live-streamed, with YouTuber Chunkz internet hosting a weekly present. Twelve groups will compete, with the highest 4 advancing to the playoffs the place they are going to battle it out to determine the season champion.
The Baller League drafts gamers from numerous backgrounds, together with former academy gamers, free brokers, and just lately retired professionals or semi-professionals. Participant trials will happen in London and Manchester.
Baller League is assured that the fast-paced gameplay will resonate with followers worldwide, lots of whom grew up taking part in small-sided soccer on playgrounds and streets.
“Baller League is bringing a beloved sport again to its roots,” stated Ashley Lundström, Associate at EQT Ventures, the Swedish enterprise capital agency that led the funding spherical.
Baller League is a part of a brand new cohort of upstarts which might be utilizing influencers and social media to succeed in international, primarily youthful, audiences. Earlier this 12 months, former FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué raised €60mn for Kings League, a seven-a-side soccer competitors.
As upstarts like Baller League and Kings League garner extra followers, it stays to be seen how soccer’s institution will react. The outdated guard might innovate inside their very own buildings to retain youthful audiences, a bit like how conventional banks responded to the rise of digital-savvy challenger banks like Revolut.
Both method, this “new period,”, appears to be right here to remain. Let the video games start.