No. 14 · 9 Nov 2024 · 5 min
Beyond the Big Leagues.
How new leagues formats are disrupting the game? 🎯
As the traditional sports world holds tight to decades-old formats and structures, a new wave of leagues is breaking the mold, reimagining what’s possible in competitive sports.
Many of us get used to major leagues globally. The biggest stars, revenues, and opportunities. Alternative leagues are challenging the status quo and reshaping the fan experience
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This is a bold move, but today’s numbers tell a different story. 👇
The progression of most valuable teams and leagues of course still is huge. (Forbes 2023 report)
What I observe right now, is that new tournaments, and leagues, appear with different approaches, rules, and goals. For athletes, it might be a new revenue stream, for fans, and a new way to engage with their favorite sport.
What I’m talking about?
Upcoming: January 2025
A 3vs3 league built in collaboration with the biggest stars in women's basketball. The league was founded by two current U.S. Olympians, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
What do you need to know about the league?
The games will be played on a compressed full court (70X50 feet).
Based on SBJ the average player's salary is expected to be in the $250,000 range.
All 30 initial players will receive equity ownership.
Games will be played in a 1-hour broadcast window.
4 quarters of play with a game clock and shot clock.
The season will include 8 weeks of total play.
Same game, new vision. Sports are changing all the time, but sometimes we need a fresh view of the same things. I’m really excited to see how it will grow, but at the same time, I’m wondering about the following questions.
Are all player currently playing in their teams?
How to avoid injuries?
Do you need to quit your current team to join a new league?
Is this a negotiation between clubs and new leagues?
I took one player from the league: Breanna Stewart who currently represents the New York Liberty. It seems my questions make sense.
What’s next? ⚽️
The league was established in 2022 in Barcelona by Gerard Piqué.
What do you need to know about the league?
The Kings League's rules were created through a social media voting process.
The matches are played on a small pitch in a 7-on-7 format and last 2x20 minutes.
The league is divided into a winter and a summer split.
The online global reach for the last season is over 170 million.
85% of Kings League fans are under 34.
Why this is huge?
I’m not gonna tell you about the players, or all the rules, but some names behind the league are:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Iker Casillas
Sergio Agüero
Just 8 weeks ago a new announcement was.
Watching the EURO 2024 and impact that this young player has made, I’m afraind to imagine what kind of young audience the league could attract even more in the upcoming years.
It differs from everything we have seen before. Branding, format, broadcasting. It’s a combination of all possible sources where you don’t have any boundaries at all.
What’s next? 🏃♂️
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The inaugural season was in 2010.
What do you need to know about the league?
The league is for elite track and field athletes.
In the last season, 1094 athletes took part in the series.
A total of 88 national records were broken throughout the season.
Why this league is a good solution?
Additional revenue streams for athletes
The perfect ground throughout the season to compete
Competition against the best athlete as preparation for the main start of the season
If you ask every athlete or coach, he will say: “Best training is a competition”
Grand Slam Track is the new global league by legendary sprinter Michael Johnson.
Upcoming: Spring 2025
What do you need to know about the league?
Aims to increase and boost the sport of track and field.
6 groups of male athletes and 6 groups of female athletes.
The season is from April - September.
The latest athlete signing was announced on the 22nd of October.
Chance to win $400,000 in total prize money throughout a season.
One of the signed athletes is Fred Kerley 2024 bronze Olympic medalist in the 100m.
Some thought about the league.
I like their design. 😅
Honestly, when you have a good website, branding and merch it’s might attract attention to the league even for people who knows nothing about track and field. I’m evaluating all the time not only who compete, but how they promote, create and reach their audience.
Where we could have an issue?
Too many competitions during the season + injury risk.
You should balance between different competitions.
Money could win. The league could potentially attract athletes with a better prize pool.
Additional pressure by World Athletics
We know already the story about the football Super League replacing the UEFA Champions League and the end of this story.
Do you want more? Here we go. 👇
German League was established by Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski.
The explanation is quite straightforward:
The new old football, because it all began on the streets. Unpredictable, real, and technical football – without politics. Without tactics.
The format is different as well, but it’s at some point a competitor to Kings’ League.
Sponsors 💶
If you have a look at all sponsors of leagues, you can notice that behind them are names like:
Cupra
Prime
Adidas
Omega
McDonald’s
Vodafone
Citroen
Gatorade
Samsung
Wrapping up 🍣
I see a huge demand in the upcoming years for the creation of more leagues for different sports. What I like the most, is that it’s a combination of amateur sports + huge media coverage by professional athletes. It’s also an additional option to earn more for professional athletes.
Another great thing about it, you can stream and create any monetization model you want. The audience you could attract is huge with different platforms. Regular sports are classic for ages, but I like to see when new formats break the rules and step out into the new market.
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Your friend should know what is Alternative Leagues in Sport.
Cheers,
Taras