Arsenal legends Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires, and Freddie Ljungberg will all have coaching roles in the UK Baller League.
Baller League will be launched in the UK and the USA and is set to feature legends of the game as both managers and coaches. It will follow on from Baller League in Germany, which began in 2023.
The league will be an indoor competition involving retired professionals, futsal players, free agents and released academy players, who will all be eligible to play.
The three Arsenal legends were all part of the Gunners team that went undefeated in the 2003/04 season under Arsene Wenger – considered to be one of best Premier League teams of all time.
John Terry, Gary Lineker and Luis Figo have been named as managers, whereas the likes of Alan Shearer and Micah Richards will join the former Arsenal trio in coaching roles.
It isn’t just former footballers, as high-profile influencers will also be involved. Youtuber, Musician, and Arsenal fan KSI has been named as the President of the UK League, whereas American streamer IShowSpeed is the president of the US-based league.
Furthermore, YouTubers Miniminter and TBJZL from popular group the Sidemen, will also feature as coaches. Baller League is set to be similar to former Barcelona man Gerard Pique‘s ‘Kings League’ in Spain.
How will the new indoor league work?
The league, starting in March, will work as a six-a-side format, with 12 teams competing in all. The top four teams in the league will then enter a playoff, which will determine who will be the champions.
All the games will be played indoors, with each half being 15 minutes long. The matches will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube every Monday night.
Any player that features will receive £400 per game they play, and rule twists will be brought in during the final three minutes of each half. The final of the first Baller League season will take place on Monday 19 May when the first champion will be crowned.
Baller League aiming to follow model of Pique’s Kings League
Former defender Pique has already set-up a similar league in Spain called Kings League. They have a club competition and a World Cup, which began on Friday 3 January and will run until Sunday 12 January.
Notable names taking part include Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero, Brazil stars Kaka and Neymar, and also Columbia’s James Rodriguez to name a few.
Kings League also has a club competition which is more similar to how Baller League will look. Although Pique’s competition is seven-a-side rather than six.
The World Cup is expected to generate over 600+ million views on YouTube, Twitch, X and TikTok, numbers that Baller League will aim to match when they launch in March.
Kings World Cup has generated high profile sponsors, including, ironically KSI’s drinks brand PRIME. Furthermore, Crypto currency FLOKI also announced their partnership, a coin that has a market cap of almost 2 billion dollars.
The combination of high profile sponsors, and big name players have enabled Kings League to succeed in Spain, and if their projections are correct, globally. Baller League can draw some experience from what Gerard Pique has done in Spain and could find themselves with a globally recognised football league after a couple of years.
