What is Baller League, why are KSI and IShowSpeed ​​involved and is it a game changer?

An indication of the shifting cultural values ​​– in football and the way it is presented – came in a press release issued on Monday.

The Baller League is what organizers have optimistically called a “new era for football,” led by YouTube stars KSI and IShowSpeed, but in their quest for credibility they’ve asked a 63-year-old along for the ride.

Gary Lineker, who is stepping down from his role as a presenter at the BBC Premier League highlights show Match of the Day was named at the end of this season among the celebrity managers of the 12-team tournament starting in March 2025, in an attempt to chart the demise of internet stars including Angry Ginge and Sharky .

Old media versus new media, football merged with entertainment.

The live action streamed via Twitch and YouTube won’t be for everyone, but the Baller League has big ambitions. Already a hit in Germany, where it launched last year, it will be rolled out in the UK and US by a host of high-profile names in 2025.

But what is the competition all about – and what does it hope to achieve?

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So, what is the Baller League?

It has been defended as something new. Or to use the provocative language of the promoters: it will be “progressive, aggressive, hyper-exciting football… that’s impossible to ignore”.

To readers of any given year, it looks a lot like the Major Indoor Soccer League or the Soccer Six in the 1980s. Small games, rolling substitutes and, well, a bit of light entertainment.

The Baller League leans into that concept using celebrity names. KSI, the YouTuber turned part-time boxer, will head up the British competition, while IShowSpeed, which tends to get to major sporting events where water can’t reach, will head up the US operation.

This combination has a total of 58 million subscribers on their respective YouTube channels, illustrating where the Baller League’s focus will be. Chunkz, Miniminter, Angry Ginge and Sharky, all successful content creators with audiences the size of small countries, are also part of the British competition hosted in London.

Perhaps even more surprising are the established names convinced to join the Baller League. Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, best known for their roles in Match of the Day and their Rest Is Football podcast, will manage one of the twelve teams, while Arsenal Invincibles Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg will take charge of another team. Luis Figo, winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2000, has also signed up, along with former England and Chelsea defender John Terry.

Brazilian great Ronaldinho will head to the US with Speed ​​when it launches in the spring.

Those are the celebrities – but who’s actually playing?

All the great names appeared in a stylish launch video, but it will be lesser-known individuals who will lead the way. Baller League says it will “provide a stage for street football while giving talent a second chance to perform”, with former academy players, professionals, free agents and “street ballers” getting the chance to get a place in teams managed by Lineker, Terry and Figo. Trials will be held in London and Manchester.

There will be cynicism around a concept driven by YouTube stars, but this is an era shaped by them. An annual charity football match organized by the Sidemen collective, staged at Wembley in March in front of 90,000 spectators, sold out in less than three hours this month, just days after another YouTube star, Jake Paul, faced Mike Tyson. It may have been a painfully tepid boxing show, but Netflix, which streamed the fight, claimed it was watched by 60 million households around the world.

And eyes mean income. Or at least the promise of it.

Where did the concept originate?

The first seeds of the Baller League were planted in Germany. Founded by Felix Starck, currently the organisation’s CEO, along with former German internationals Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski, two seasons have already been played to build what organizers call “a huge following”.

There was a star appeal there too. Hummels has recently resigned, but former World Cup finalist Christoph Kramer was one of the former internationals to join the German version, while Podolski – alongside Juventus striker Alisha Lehmann – coached the winning team in the first season (Streets United, if you you were wondering).

It started in a disused plane hanger in Cologne and, like the one that will come to Britain and the US, games were streamed live. Unverified figures from the organizers claimed that Twitch had 3 million viewers per match day, making it the number 1 Twitch channel worldwide in 2024. Coverage was also available via JOYN, a German streaming app, and Pro Sieben Maxx, a free-to-download air TV channel.

The Bundesliga can still sleep easily at night, but there was clearly a demand on the startup. It was reported that 10,000 applications had been received to take part in a player draft and commercial partnerships had also been established with leading companies including Vodafone, Citroen, Gatorade and Samsung. German newspaper Kicker reported that Xing, the jobs website, paid a seven-figure sum to be shirt sponsor for the entire league during the first season. The company is also sponsoring the third season, according to its website.

How will it work?

Germany’s lead will be the blueprint for spin-off competitions in Britain and the US. There will be a dozen teams playing what amounts to six-a-side football in two 15-minute halves, all in one indoor arena. Eleven matchday weeks in which each team competes against each other, with the top four advancing to a play-off that will determine the winner. The British event starts in March and ends in May, with all matches being played in London.

Does everything seem routine enough? Hold that thought.

The USP of Baller League, if that’s the angle you’re coming from, ensures that each game follows different rules, shaped by the spin of a roulette wheel.

In the final three minutes of each half, a new set of rules are adopted, including a three-on-three format and goals scored from distance, with double counting. That sound you can just hear is IFAB on the other end of a Twitch stream.

The presentation of the new, interchangeable rules that were created was sponsored by brands when games were streamed in Germany, cementing the expectation that the concept could be monetized.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, 77 years young, once claimed that the young crowd was “no longer interested in football” as he tried to launch the Super League in 2021. Baller League – and others – are taking the theory and running with it.

Has there been any resistance?

The Baller League has faced resistance in Germany, with some players – who can earn up to €800 (£668; $840) per matchday – opting for the new concept while still on the books of amateur clubs. FV Bonn-Endenich sporting director Markus Koppe claimed his “dressing room is poisoned because of the Baller League” in a Facebook video that was subsequently deleted.

A second messageclarifying his opposition, he said: “We would never have had a problem if two or maximum three players had participated. But for us this was no longer acceptable. For young people it is a wonderful thing. If I were twenty again, I would want to play too.”

And these words perhaps best illustrate the gap between generations; the traditionalists who shy away from innovation and the youth who are eager to jump on board.

Baller League also has similarities with the King’s Leaguelaunched in 2023 with former Spain and Barcelona defender Gerard Pique at the helm and currently in its second season.

The Kings League went with seven players per team, but again there were crazy rules and a host of Spanish influencers on board in teams managed by former stars such as Sergio Aguero and Iker Casillas. A Queens League for women’s players was also launched.

That too was met with some hostility. Javier Tebas, the chairman of La Ligacalled the event a “circus” and complaints were directed at local amateur players in Catalonia who had signed up to play in the Kings League as it caused scheduling problems with their 11-a-side club matches.

(Top photo: Baller League)