Sam Bunce
What is it?
Baller League is an indoor six-a-side football league in which 12 teams compete with six matches played back-to-back across 11 Monday evenings until the end of May. The top four teams will play in a semi-final to then see who advances to the final.
The first UK season is being played at the Copper Box Arena in London. It is also being shown live on Sky Sports and will be free to watch on YouTube, as well as the streaming platform Twitch.
Teams are composed of non-league players, free agents, former academy prospects and futsal players. Players were drafted into one of the 12 teams after a trial process.
Founded in Germany by entrepreneur Felix Starck, this league, despite it being approximately two years old and, in its infancy, has taken Germany by storm.
How does it work?
Each squad has 12 players who were drafted in by their respective managers. Those that were present on draft night were selected first through applications that included their playing credentials, based on factual statistics and their athleticism, and then through a series of trials across the county where academy scouts were in place to assess who would make the cut.
Each manager also gets two wild cards a week, and the MVP of the night wins a football legend for the next game for their team.
Matches are played on an indoor football pitch – specifically a 50X30 metre pitch with offside lines – in 2X15 minute halves.
However, one of the ways Baller League clearly aims to differentiate itself from traditional perceptions of football is its rules and structure.
If the ball goes off the opposition and behind their goal, a corner is normally awarded in football, but in Baller League, when this happens three times in a game, it is a penalty to the attacking team.
This adopts the way players used to take penalties in the MLS during the 1990s
This will see a player take on the goalkeeper 1v1 starting with the ball on the half-way line with only six seconds on the clock to try and score with no rebounds. This adopts the way players used to take penalties in the MLS during the 1990s, and what we still see now in hockey.
There seems to be an emphasis on restricting soft fouls and the time spent analysing decisions using VAR by referees. The organisation prefers officials to wave away softer fouls, such as players falling to the ground when a defender is pressuring them directly behind their back.
A team can opt to check a decision once per game with video review upon request.
At the end of each half, specifically in the final three minutes, there is a randomised ‘gamechanger’, as they call it.
For example, for the first half there is the ‘+1’, whereby it is initially a 1v1 with keepers but if you score an extra player is added. ‘The Line’ could also be enforced, meaning that if you score from behind the offside line, the goal counts as double.
In the second half, three different ‘gamechangers’ could occur and these are the ‘1v1’ – you have 15 seconds to shoot from the halfway line and the goalkeeper can’t use his hands, ‘Fast Forward’ – once you pass the half way line in possession you are unable to turn back, otherwise it is a free kick. And finally, ‘Fair Play’, which means that if you commit a foul, you are sent off for the rest of the half.
So, in those final three minutes, expect the excitement to ramp up and it remains to be seen how these rules could throw a twist in the tale in deciding points for the teams.
Why does it work?
Traditional football will remain deeply ingrained in the UK’s culture, but the Baller League offers an alternative, particularly to younger generations, in changing the dynamic of football as a mode of entertainment, while still reinforcing its respect to traditional aspects.
Baller League CEO, Felix Starck, speaking to the Business of Sport Podcast, said he was raised to be a professional footballer himself but stopped playing at 17 years old in 2007.
He started to play a variety of sports more casually while studying in the US, and he was captivated by UFC’s strategy and success in rekindling people’s interest for boxing and combat sport.
Starck also knew the value of how America approached sport as inextricably linked to entertainment value.
This is someone who has had real-world experience in football, and has identified a problem in spectatorship particularly, and devised a viable solution.
Speaking to the Business of Sport Podcast in November, Starck mentioned “we are creating a future proof sport,” and the target for him was always the digital native younger generations.
However, when the revelation that much of his audiences for the German seasons had been between 22-35 years old, it offered another optimistic perspective to consider.
Yet, the real value lies in ensuring the football remains at a high level
You would expect that with a devoted following to an established football club and a busy working life, this age range would brush away the Baller League and be stretching themselves to watch any more than 30 seconds. Yet, the real value lies in ensuring the football remains at a high level, and the broader audience appeal is possible for Baller League.
The format emulates a kick-about most people familiar with football understand where you play a small sided game and you add in unpredictable and random rules every so often.
That is when the sport can be at its most enjoyable and competitive.
The attention spans of people struggling to focus for an entire game of football could be shaped by exposure to social media, but why has this shift taken place?
Well, one of the reasons that the Baller League CEO identifies is that football is a “slow game.”
He sees attention spans as misdirected with football’s lack of entertainment value and commercial takeover, but he doesn’t see it as an irreversible problem.
Stoppages and passages of repetitive possession are elements people pick apart in terms of their overall negative impact on the sport, but these are still intrinsic to the sport and can’t be entirely changed.
Therefore, Baller League aims to bring something different to the table. It provides weekly football entertainment with a model to keep people watching with genuine interest and choice, rather than following their club based on outcomes or out of fan loyalty. They are there to watch the football and to be entertained just as much.
Social media presence becomes invaluable and a fundamental part, though it does not intersect with what happens on the pitch.
Baller League has a hybridity of famous faces on board with former professional footballers, pundits, celebrities, and a crop of social media influencers.
With KSI as President for the UK version, and young American online personality IShowSpeed drawing eyes to the event, it has the ingredients to lean into social media virality off the pitch.
Also, Starck revealed in the podcast that the managers have an obligation to be at the venue for at least half of the matchdays, and they also need to post a story (on Instagram) to promote the live stream of Baller League.
The array of famous faces which are familiar to a youthful but still large demographic invites collaboration, different types of audiences, and different types of perspectives to encounter Baller League.
In regards to the players, the majority of their income from football merely supplements the money from their day jobs, yet a place in Baller League does offer them a salary on a game-by-game basis.
This would be on a similar level to what League Two players earn, however, significantly, they can use the platform Baller League provides them to accelerate their own personal brands.
This is what the Baller League boils down to. It is a fusion of personal brands at the helm who cater to the younger audiences craving entertainment, attuned to social media, and seeking an experience when they watch football.
Expansion and enhancement into professionalisation globally and into the women’s game is on the cards for Starck, who affirmed that in the second season in Germany, the viewership substantially increased.
He attributed that to the quality of play, ultimately retaining the audiences who initially doubted the influencer and celebrity involvement, and the mechanisms in place to engage younger audiences.
The markets remain open for football-savvy communities in South American nations and it will be making its way over to the US shortly.
It seems an unparalleled opportunity as brands could begin to reach more eyes
Sponsorship is where the revenue is principally generated and there will be an influx of brands calling as their audience also aligns with much of Baller League’s audience. It seems an unparalleled opportunity as brands could begin to reach more eyes and have a bigger impact than if they were placed on a Premier League shirt.
Stay tuned for Baller League’s entertainment over the next few months, featuring not only the football it showcases but everything else surrounding it on social media, especially for younger viewers.
This could be Sky Sports’ ‘Monday Night Football’ revamped, reinvented, and ready to change the landscape of football entertainment.
Teams
Yanited
Manager: Angry Ginge (YouTuber)
Squad: Kadell Daniel, Michael Hector, Mohammed Mahyoub, Remy Clerima, Percy Kiangebeni, Medy Elito, Max Pitman, Harry Cain, Henry O’Shea, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Woods, Pharrel Mensah.
N5 FC
Managers: Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg
Squad: Owen Locke, Adrian Mariappa, Brian Ly, Charlie Wakefield, Dayo Adekayo, Chris Arba, Imran Kahani, Michael Class, James Alabi, Troy Molunda, Freddie Berrati, Callum Charlton.
F.C Rules the World
Manager: Clint 419 (Internet personality)
Squad: Michael Ndiweni, Josh Harrop, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kevin Gonzalez, Oliver Bosworth, Karim Kamhouri, Erghis Pepy, Onuchi Oki, Yusuf Shentu, Alamiji Oluma, Sandro Kamara, Festus Chalet.
MVPs United
Managers: Alisha Lehmann and Maya Jama (the latter is a TV/radio host)
Squad: Lorenzo Spinelli, Ashton Peltier, Jake Chambers Shaw, Ross Derham, Josh Misoki, James Canton, Alfie Matthew, Declan McCarthy, Jay Beckford, Joe Edwards, Dwayne Suel, Esteban Salgado.
SDS FC
Manager: Sharky (YouTuber)
Squad: Bruno Andrade, Bayley Brown, Ody Alfa, Cole Da Silva, David Marques Castanho, Calvin Dickson, Big John, Camillo Astreppo, Finley Chadwick, Michael Felibe, Hussein Mahdi, Tyler Edmundson.
26ERS
Manager: John Terry
Squad: J’ardell Stirling, Bilal Sayoud, Sak Hassan, Kojo Apenteng, Marcel Lewis, Jordon Ibe, Matt Chizzum, Emmanuel Rowe, Justin Dass, Spike Stegel, Vladislav Platinov, Jack Crook.
Trebol FC
Manager: Luis Figo
Squad: Montel McKenzie, Vani Da Silva, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Modi, Ethan Oke, Reggie, Emi, Ryan Gorwell, Jordan Brown, Shani Omed, Aaron Steven, Nathan Bowen.
Santan FC
Manager: Dave (rapper)
Squad: Michael Hill, Richard Kesey, Dominic Voss, Erick Kenco, Ranell McKenzie Lowes, Jamell Abou-Bakare, Rico Okinari, David Upu, Abdullah Gervardi, Jack Wilson, David Solidemi, Luka Valentine.
M7 FC
Manager: Miniminter (YouTuber and member of The Sidemen with KSI)
Squad: Jesse Waller-Lassen, Femi Akinwande, Stefan Ilic, Jean Belehouan, Toby Bull, Sam Fitzgerald, Arjun Young, Ramez Gonzalo, Arin Zaha, Lewis Garcia, Henry Wise, Zion Nditi.
Wembley Rangers
Managers: Ian Wright and Chloe Kelly
Squad: Domingos Pires, Check Fayum, Ben Long, Stuart Cook, Oliver Cannon, Juan Pablo, Ruben Junior, Luke Gambin, Kaylen Kofi, Braden Shaw, Joseph Diomande, Nabid Eshari.
Deportrio
Managers: Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker
Squad: Bakary Sako, Adam Dawson, Francis Gerald Mapolo, Zach Fagan, Marvin Sordell, Charlie Kuehn, Tommy Scott, Raphael Gas, Alex Dyer, Ruben Singale, Tristan Goodridge, Leo Serri.
VZN FC
Manager: TBJZL (YouTuber and member of The Sidemen with KSI)
Squad: Henri Lansbury, Kurtice Herbert, Jerome Sinclair, Remy Mitchell, Montel McKenzie, Florian Kastrati, Michael Olive-Wigan, Barrell Mensah, Ethan McClear, Diego Dombaboni, Jami Kheresi, Luka Barusic.
Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of Md Mahdi via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @ballerleagueuk via YouTube. No changes were made to this image.?
In article image 2 courtesy of @ballerleagueuk via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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