December 1 – Baller League has spent the past year shaking off the assumption that it is just another influencer-driven novelty. Now in its second UK season, the competition has begun to present itself as something more structured, ambitious and credible on the pitch. In an exclusive interview with Insideworldfootball, Baller League marketing director Harry Hesp laid out the project’s next phase, and its plans for a US expansion.
Hesp began by pushing back against the idea that the league is just another creator stunt built for viral spikes.
“I don’t like the comparison with charity matches,” he says. “I can see why they’re made first of all with no knowledge of Baller League, but it’s not fair to the product that we are building. As soon as those players step over the white line, it’s proper serious business.
“We scour the country to find the best small-sided players. Small sided football is the most played game on the planet. We are giving it a stage and we really pride ourselves on the fact that the football itself is not only very competitive, but also very consumable and very entertaining.
“So with all due respect to those charity matches, they aim for one-off spikes and to raise money for great causes. But the standard of football is dreadful. If you watch a Baller League match, you only have to watch the first five minutes to realise that the standard is incredibly high.”
That commitment to footballing credibility is what Hesp believes separates Baller League from influencer set-pieces that survive on one-off spectacles.
“The most viewed clip we’ve ever had wasn’t a celebrity moment,” he explains. “It was Adam Dawson pulling off a trick no one had seen before – which gathered 200 million views. These natural viral spikes come from the football.”
And the football matters for reasons beyond entertainment. Many of the league’s standout performers are former academy prospects – players who came close to the professional pathway before falling through its cracks.
“It’s great to give these guys a second chance,” Hesp says. “If you look at the kind of players we have had in the roster, some are ex-pros like Joleon Lescott, who was worth £40 million in his prime when Manchester City bought him. But the majority were academy players like Kaz Sterling, who was the MVP last season in Baller.
“He used to play with Harry Kane at youth level at Spurs. He was neck and neck with Harry Kane when they were kids. We pride ourselves on finding the best small-sided players across the country, a lot of which didn’t make it in football for reasons beyond talent. Baller gives them a stage.”
It also gives them a wage. Season one saw players earn £400 a game; season two introduced a tiered system, with top-tier players now earning £800 for 30 minutes’ work—on par with some lower-league contracts.
Off the pitch, the creator ecosystem remains essential to growing the League’s brand.
Recruiting YouTube talent as team managers, Hesp says, “was not hard at all. Come and have your own football club – if you love football and make content, it’s a dream.”
But those same creators are becoming emotionally entangled in the competition in ways few expected. The sideline theatrics, the mic’d-up moments, the challenges and celebrations – they’re not just performance tools but part of the league’s identity. Fans treat the players like stars, and the creators that they’ve become so familiar with have transformed into managers with real stakes.
Brands, too, are increasingly recognising the league’s hybrid appeal.
“It’s a great combination,” Hesp says. “We work with partners who understand authenticity. These players, especially the ones who’ve become heroes in Germany, are building real profiles. Brands can come along for that ride.”
Sky Sports’ renewed broadcast deal and the arrival of TEAM Marketing – architects of the Champions League’s commercial machine – underline that Baller League is no longer treated as a fringe experiment. It now draws millions of weekly livestream viewers, and its first UK season ended with a sold-out O2 Arena.
But the next step is bigger.
“We’re going to the US early next year,” Hesp confirms. “We’re not thinking season to season. We’re scaling the whole Baller League model.”
The US expansion will be powered by high-profile streamers such as Speed, XQC, Marlon and Druski, who Hesp believes embody the league’s mission to challenge lazy assumptions about Gen Z attention spans.
“People say young fans don’t have an attention span – yet those same fans watch six-hour livestreams from some of our creator talent,” he says. “We can learn from how they interact with their audiences and apply it to our own streams.”
Baller League’s format – six matches, each equipped with breaks, mid-game challenges, jumbotron-style presentation – feels custom-built for the American market. Hesp sees parallels with US sports as the league carefully tweaks rules based on fan feedback.
“We’re still in our infancy,” he says. “We listen. We adapt. And we’re building something sustainable.”
For now, Baller League UK remains a Monday-night spectacle that blends street football, live entertainment and a hyper-engaged digital audience. But the ambition is a little more eager-eyed: a multi-territory football ecosystem driven by creators, shaped by fans, and built on football played with startling intensity.
Baller League isn’t set up to challenge the Premier League. It’s carving out a space football hasn’t occupied before – and now preparing to take it international.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1764594259labto1764594259ofdlr1764594259owedi1764594259sni@g1764594259niwe.1764594259yrrah1764594259
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