How Baller League US plans to use World Cup as springboard to success

The Baller League is poised to launch its new US tournament this quarter, strategically timed to capitalise on the burgeoning excitement surrounding the World Cup, according to managing director Ged Tarpey.

"What's great is like we get to do season one before the World Cup. So we get to kind of be there with the hype and then let the World Cup do its thing," Ged Tarpey told Reuters, referring to the competition scheduled from 11 June to 19 July across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The inaugural Baller League US event will unfold in Miami’s Tropical Park arena, featuring 10 teams managed by a diverse mix of internet personalities, such as Drew Desbordes, known as Druski, and former football legends, including Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho. The league’s president is online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Junior, better known as IShowSpeed.

"I think what we've done really well, and credit to (CEO) Felix (Starck) on this, is amassed a lineup of managers who tap into all sorts of different types of culture in different ways," said Tarpey, a former Microsoft executive and chief commercial officer for the Miami Dolphins.

The six-a-side indoor Baller League originated in Germany in 2024, emerging among a host of new football tournaments offering shorter, more accessible, and often more unconventional versions of traditional 90-minute football, primarily targeting online audiences as much as live spectators.

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Backed by investors like EQT Ventures, the Baller League has already established a presence in the UK, where former England internationals Ian Wright and Alan Shearer's Wembley Rangers AFC team recently clinched the Season 2 title.

Expanding into the lucrative US market is also being explored by another burgeoning format, Kings League.

The seven-a-side league, created in 2022 by former Spanish international Gerard Pique, recently achieved record audience figures for its Kings World Cup Nations tournament in Brazil.

However, Tarpey views neither the Kings League nor mainstream Major League Soccer in the US as direct competition, but rather as an "opportunity for us to continue to improve and grow the love of the sport".

"We're going to be launching this new style of football that's, you know, in many ways, maybe it's tailor-made for an American audience," he stated, without specifying the precise launch date.

"And then what's fun for us is we get to kick off season two after the World Cup as well. So there's almost like a residual effect that we'll be able to ride that wave of football passion in the world."

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Baller League US will be streamed on online platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, with a television deal with a major network also reportedly in the pipeline, Tarpey confirmed.

"I think there's also an element of legitimacy to it," he said, drawing parallels between a potential US TV deal and British sports broadcaster Sky Sports' embrace of Baller League UK.

"Let's give every opportunity for anybody, wherever they are, whatever that means, whatever type of screen they have, democratised being able to watch football when and where you want."