Kings League, a seven-a-side next generation football competition led by Gerard Piqué that brings together entertainment and sports, today announced a €60 million investment round. 

Kings League started in Spain at the beginning of 2023, and after selling out stadiums like FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou and Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano during its inaugural year, they launched Mexico-based Kings League Latam in February of this year to begin its global expansion.

 Each regional league has 12 teams owned by team Presidents, including high-profile football legends and internet streamers. The Presidents are responsible for their team and live stream the games on their respective streaming channels like Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. 

Kings League has connected with the Gen Z audience through digital channels and platforms, integrating gamified elements into traditional football to produce dynamic, high-scoring 40-minute matches.

Kings League has adopted many ideas from American sports, such as a closed league model with team franchise ownership,  end-of-season playoffs, no drawn games, and a Draft for each team to select 10 of its 13-player roster, where three slots are reserved for guest players, often former professional footballers. 

Its gamified rules include starting the game as a 1 vs 1 while adding a player to both teams every minute until the full team is on the pitch, counting every goal in the final two minutes of the game as double, finishing tie  games with a one-on-one ‘shoutout’ to determine a winner, and both teams drawing a  ‘secret card’ at the beginning of the match that can be used in the second half. 

Kings League Founder Gerard Piqué, who won the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships, and four UEFA Champions League titles while playing for Barcelona, Manchester United, and the Spanish national team commented:

“When we launched Kings League a year ago, we had the ambition to transform sports and entertainment globally.

We are creating a unique and differentiated ecosystem, evolving the future of sport and entertainment into a new dimension that millions of young people around the world want to be a part of. We are still a young company but have high goals to reach a global audience by creating one of the most entertaining IPs in the world.” 

The league currently has more than 13 million followers on its digital platforms, more than 80 million hours of content watched, and over 82 million views on TikTok. 

Its official Twitch channel is the second most-watched Spanish-language channel in the world. On TikTok, it is the most-watched football league globally with larger audiences than La Liga or the Premier League.

Left Lane Capital led the round, along with Fillip, a global sports and entertainment-focused holding company, and  Cassius. 

Harley Miller, CEO and Managing Partner of Left Lane Capital, shared:

“Kings League has created the stage for the world’s best seven-a-side football players to compete while combining this with gamified rules and creator culture to keep fans entertained for every moment of the match.

Gerard and his team are building a one-of-one global sports entertainment ecosystem that gives the game back to the fans while empowering the world’s leading creators to build unique sports franchises in their own identity.”

Kings League plans to accelerate global growth by opening leagues across major European countries, North America, and Brazil during 2024 and 2025, as well as an expansion into Asia in 2026.

Lead image: Kings League. Photo: uncredited.