Baller League, the digital-focused six-a-side soccer concept, has once again renewed its UK broadcast agreement with pay-TV giant Sky.
Sky will broadcast every weekly game from the Baller League UK regional competition live on its range of linear networks and the NowTV OTT platform.
This began with the March 16 season launch, and will continue across the regular season (running through May 25) and the season-ending finals on June 7.
Baller League games are staged weekly at London’s Copper Box Arena, featuring six 30-minute matches. and feature several former soccer stars, alongside various media personalities, as team managers.
This includes Deportrio (Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge), Prime FC (KSI), Wembley Rangers FC (Ian Wright and Alan Shearer), N5 FC (Jens Lehmann), and Rukkas FC (Idris Elba).
While Baller League coverage is also streamed for free on video platform Twitch, putting it on a pay-TV service such as Sky is likely a way to expand into more (older) demographics than the typical Twitch user, while also enhancing the product’s legitimacy by placing it alongside top-tier professional soccer properties.
Sky Sports already holds a strong suite of UK soccer rights, including the top-flight domestic Premier League, the lower-tier EFL competitions (running from second- to fourth-tier), Scotland’s Premiership, and English women’s soccer’s WSL.
In terms of international rights, it also showcases German soccer’s elite Bundesliga.
This is the third season since Baller League (established in Germany) launched in the UK, and similarly, the third year of Sky’s partnership with the property.
In November, the Baller League agreed a wide-ranging two-year partnership with sportswear giant Nike, which will serve as the official apparel and equipment provider across its UK competition and its upcoming US regional tournament.
In August, Baller League secured a partnership with sports marketing and media agency Team Marketing, which will look to support Baller League’s sales efforts.
Read more- Explainer: Why the Baller League is attracting private equity investment
