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

A measure of the shifting cultural sands — in football and how it is presented — came in a press release distributed on Monday.

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

Gary Lineker, who steps down from his presenting role at the BBC’sPremier League highlights show Match of the Day at the end of this season, was named among the celebrity managers of the 12-team tournament that will begin in March 2025, trying to plot the downfall of internet stars, including Angry Ginge and Sharky.

Old media against new media, football fused with entertainment.

The live action streamed over Twitch and YouTube will not be for everyone but the Baller League has big ambitions. Already a hit in Germany, where it was launched last year, a host of high-profile names will see it rolled out in the UK and United States in 2025.

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

So, what’s the Baller League?

It has been championed as something novel. Or to borrow the excitable language of promoters, it will be “forward-thinking, aggressive, hyper-exciting football… that’s impossible to ignore”.

Now, to readers of a certain vintage, it feels a lot like the Major Indoor Soccer League or the Soccer Six in the 1980s. Small-sided games, rolling substitutes and, well, a bit of light entertainment.

The Baller League leans on that concept with the help of celebrity names. KSI, the YouTuber turned part-time boxer, will head up the UK league, with IShowSpeed, who tends to get where water can’t at major sporting events, taking charge of the U.S. operation.

That pairing has a combined 58million subscribers to their respective YouTube channels and that illustrates where the Baller League’s focus will be aimed. Chunkz, Miniminter, Angry Ginge and Sharky, all successful content creators with audiences that run to the size of small countries, are also part of the UK league hosted in London.

Perhaps more surprising are the established names that have been convinced to join Baller League. Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, best known for their roles on Match of the Day and their Rest Is Football podcast, will manage one of the 12 teams, while Arsenal Invincibles Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg will take charge of another. Luis Figo, Ballon d’Or winner in 2000, has also signed up, along with former England and Chelsea defender John Terry.

Ronaldinho, the Brazilian great, will head to the U.S. with Speed when that is launched in the spring.

Those are the celebrities – but who actually plays?

All the stellar names appeared in a stylish launch video but it will be less heralded individuals that do all the running. Baller League says it will provide “a stage for street football whilst giving talent the second chance to perform”, inviting former academy players, professionals, free agents and “street ballers” the opportunity to land a place on teams managed by Lineker, Terry and Figo. Trials will be held in London and Manchester.

There will be cynicism that swirls around a concept driven by YouTube stars but this is an era being moulded by them. An annual charity football fixture organised by the Sidemen collective, staged at Wembley in front of 90,000 this March, sold out in less than three hours this month, just days after another YouTube star, Jake Paul, was facing Mike Tyson. A painfully tepid exhibition of boxing it might have been but Netflix, which streamed the fight, claimed it was watched in 60million households around the world.

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

Darren Jason Watkins Jr, aka IShowSpeed, has signed up for Baller League (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Where did the concept originate?

The first seeds of the Baller League were planted in Germany. Founded by Felix Starck, currently the chief executive of the organisation, alongside former German internationals Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski, there have already been two seasons played to build up what the organisers call “a massive following”.

There has been star appeal there, too. Hummels has recently stepped away, but former World Cup finalist Christoph Kramer was among the former internationals to align with the German version, while Podolski — alongside Juventus forward Alisha Lehmann — coached the winning team in the first season (Streets United, if you were wondering).

It began in a disused plane hanger in Cologne and, just like the one that will come to the UK and US, had games streamed live. Unverified figures from the organisers claimed that there were 3million viewers per matchday on Twitch, ranking it as the No 1 Twitch channel worldwide in 2024. Coverage was also available through JOYN, a German streaming app, and Pro Sieben Maxx, a free-to-air television channel.

TheBundesliga can still sleep easily at night but there was obvious appeal to the startup. It was reported that 10,000 applications were received to join a players’ draft and commercial partnerships were also struck with blue-chip companies, including Vodafone, Citroen, Gatorade and Samsung. German newspaper Kicker reported that Xing, the jobs website, paid a mid-seven-figure sum to be a league-wide shirt sponsor during the first season. The company is also sponsoring the third season, according to its website.

Alisha Lehmann co-managed a Baller League team in Germany (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

How is it going to work?

Germany’s lead will be the blueprint for spin-off competitions in the UK and US. There will be a dozen teams playing what amounts to six-a-side football over two 15-minute halves, all in a single indoor arena. Eleven matchday weeks will see every team pitted against each of the others, with the top four progressing to a play-off that will decide a winner. The UK’s event will begin in March and conclude in May, with all games played in London.

All seem routine enough? Hold that thought.

Baller League’s USP, if that’s the angle you are coming in from, will see each game follow different rules shaped by the spin of a roulette wheel.

The final three minutes of each half sees a new set of rules adopted, including a three versus three format and goals scored from distance counting double. That noise you can just about make out is IFAB tutting on the other end of a Twitch stream.

Presentation of the new, interchangeable rules drafted in were sponsored by brands when games were streamed in Germany, entrenching the outlook there is money to be made from the concept.

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

Has there been any resistance?

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

A second post, clarifying his opposition, said: “We would never have had a problem if two or a maximum of three players had taken part. But it was no longer acceptable for us. It’s a great thing for young people. If I were 20 again, I’d be up for playing too.”

And those words perhaps best illustrate the generational divide; the traditionalists that baulk at the innovation and the youth eager to jump on board.

Baller League also has similarities tothe Kings League, launched in 2023 with former Spain and Barcelona defender Gerard Pique at its helm and currently in its second season.

The Kings League went with seven players per team but again there were whacky 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 president ofLa Liga, called the event a “circus” and there were complaints directed towards local amateur players in Catalonia signing up to play in the Kings League as it caused scheduling problems with their 11-a-side club matches.

(Top photo: Baller League)