For recently retired soccer legends Gerard Pique, Kaka, Miguel Layun, Claudio Marchisio and Bastian Schweinsteiger, an association with World Cups is nothing new. Between the five of them, they have played at 13 World Cups and won three, but they did not gather on Tuesday to reminisce about their storied playing careers. Instead, they convened in front of their computers and phones, battling the elements of unsteady internet connections, to discuss the haters of the Kings League, among other things.
“Thank you for the haters,” Layun declared during an hour-long virtual press conference this week. “We love haters here. We are in the circus planet, so it’s all about [entertainment] and haters are part of entertainment.”
The Kings League is one of soccer’s newest lightning rods, to some an innovative approach to reach a new generation of fans and to others an attempt to reinvent the wheel. Established in 2022 by Pique as his big post-retirement project, the seven-a-side competition started in Spain but has since expanded to several other countries, enough to hold the second Kings World Cup Clubs in Paris which kicks off Sunday, June 1 on Paramount+ via CBS Sports Golazo Network. Outside of the famous names associated with the product, it is known for its unconventionality and always-changing regulations — the Kings League does not allow for ties, permits unlimited substitutions and has rules that can see goals count for double and games reduced to one vs. one affairs.
The format is intentionally designed with Gen Z and Gen Alpha in mind, many of whom play video games where the rules are always updating to keep things as fresh as possible. That is not the only aspect of the Kings League that inspires contention, though — Pique is on record arguing that soccer’s traditional 90 minutes matches are “too long” and he uses data that suggests younger audiences are unwilling to make that lengthy a commitment as a foundational argument for the Kings League. It is the type of thing that has earned the investment of the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and the ire of La Liga president Javier Tebas.
Pique, though, insists that the Kings League is not actually coming for traditional soccer’s throne.
“We always say that we are very complimentary to football,” Pique said. “The other day, I put the example of films and [television] series are different products [but] are very similar and people love films and people love series, so they can follow traditional football on traditional TV and at the same time, consume Kings League on the phone or the iPad or tablet or whatever. This new generation, they are able to do that because they consume differently and they can do it at the same time, two or three different screens.”
Pique has also likened the Kings League experience to those of video games, an approach the organization claims is working. Pique said Tuesday that the previous edition of the Kings World Cup Clubs, which took place in January in Italy, attracted more than 100 million unique viewers on live streams for the whole tournament, while the final between Brazil and Colombia peaked with more than 3.5 million devices live streaming the event.
The appeal to young audiences, as they describe it, is that entertainment is the main focus. That approach is equally unconventional as the Kings League’s rules, down to performative clapbacks that are designed specifically to garner attention.
“When we have haters or we have people that go against us, what we try to do is take it in a fun way,” Pique said. “I remember Javier Tebas. When we started, the president of La Liga, he was against us and he was saying that we were a circus. What we did was we brought [Sergio] Aguero, we dressed him up as a clown and he played a game.”
True to form for a competition that inspires as much debate as the Kings League, the entertainment value of the retired players’ new hobby lies not only in hating the haters.
“I just kind of fell in love because my opinion is football is entertainment, you know?” Layun said. “When we were kids, we dreamed of becoming footballers and it was because we really enjoyed playing football and watching football and at some point, I think you can miss that point of view during your career. You think it’s only winning matches, it’s only winning titles, stuff like that, and you forget you are there for the people.”
How to watch: Kings World Cup Clubs – Round 1
All times U.S./Eastern – matches on CBS Sports Golazo Network and YouTube
Sunday, June 1
F2R vs. Murash FC, 9 a.m.
Desimpedidos Goti vs. Zaytouna FC, 10 a.m.
FC Zeta vs. Olimpo United, 11 a.m.
Ultra Chmicha vs. PANAM ALL STARZ, 12 p.m.
Galácticos del Caribe vs. ERA Colonia, 1 p.m.
G2 Football Club vs. Ultimate Móstoles, 2: p.m.
Furia FC vs. Kunisports, 3 p.m.
Porcinos FC vs. Miami 7, 4 p.m.
Monday, June 2
Fluxo FC vs. Futbolistas Locos FC, 1 p.m.
Boomers vs. Unit3d, 2 p.m.
SXB FC vs. Jijantes FC, 3 p.m.
Persas FC vs. La Capital CF, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, June 3
Los Troncos FC vs. TRM FC, 1 p.m.
Gear 7 FC vs. KARASU, 2 p.m.
xBuyer Team vs. Los Chamos FC, 3 p.m.
Dendele FC vs. Jynxzi FC, 4 p.m.
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