March 26 (Reuters) - With spectacular goals, blaring air-horns and millions watching online, the six-a-side Baller League USA made its debut in Miami last week, and CEO Felix Starck hopes it will help redefine how soccer, the world's most popular sport, is consumed.
Having started in his native Germany in 2024 with the British edition kicking off a year later, Starck and Baller League invested heavily in a purpose-built arena in Miami for their American launch, and last week it hosted around 3,500 fans.
Those in attendance got to see some spectacular action as teams coached by the likes of Brazilian great Ronaldinho, Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt and YouTuber IShowSpeed went head-to-head using a set of rules designed to maximise entertainment.
"Real football is people making a goal with two cans, and they play forward-moving, action football ... that's how football became the most-played and most-watched sport in the world," Starck told Reuters in a video call from Miami, where he is overseeing the league's first season in the U.S.
Bemoaning the fact that the modern trend for possession football has made the game boring and predictable, Starck points to goalkeepers in 11-a-side football now getting as many, if not more, touches than many attacking players in high-level games as a pattern he would like to break.
"The idea was super simple ... small-sided football is the most played sport in the world, and yet it's not defined. And it doesn't have a stage to shine. So what we're trying to do is define the sport," he said.
Starck is well aware of the potential pitfalls of launching a new league in a sporting landscape dominated by American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey, all while changing the rules and format of a sport with long traditions and deep roots.
Consisting of two 15-minute halves, Baller League games are played on an artificial pitch measuring 50x29 metres, and penalties are taken by a player dribbling from the halfway line, rather than a spot in front of the goal.
GAME-CHANGERS
In the last three minutes of each half, so-called game-changerscome into effect. This can be anything from three-on-three play with a 30-second shot clock to the abolition of offside for the remainder of the game.
It may sound like heresy to traditional fans, but those in attendance in Miami roared their appreciation. The event drew an audience of more than 3.6 million individual viewers across a variety of online and social media platforms, with the 18-34 age demographic heavily represented.
"We have something that any Premier League team or professional sports team doesn't have, which is the next generation," Starck said, confidently.
"For the 15-year-old that consumes us today, Baller League has as much tradition as Liverpool (football club), because he's only 15 and we exist now ... in 10 years' time, for this individual, he grows up not being able to go to the Premier League stadium of a club, not being able to consume (on TV) because it's 100 bucks (for a cable subscription)."
A former player in Kaiserslautern's academy in Germany, Starck points to the opportunities in the Baller League for players like him who didn't make it to the senior level. He also highlighted another opportunity in the American market.
"My number one goal is to get a women's league done this year. The amount of pure talent that you have in this country, everybody plays high school and university soccer, that's the number one sport for females," he said.
"I hope I can get it (done in) 2026."
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Christian Radnedge)
