Bottom Line Up Front: Ged shared a key filter he uses when improving their property and partner selection. In-person fans, talent/teams, broadcast viewers - in Germany and the UK before selling anything in the US. They spent six months proving people actually came back week after week. Then, they sold partnerships; Nike signed on as the global kit partner before the American League played a single match.

The how: The three-experience framework boiled down to 3x key mechanisms that make properties commercially viable.

Most properties maximise revenue per attendee immediately. Baller League did the opposite—they made showing up stupid easy, proved people would come back, then built commercial models around that proven demand.

What they built:

£15 tickets in the UK are cheaper than lunch. Accessible to students and young fans who are usually priced out of live sports. This was customer acquisition at a faster rate, making it a no-brainer offer. If your target audience can't afford entry, you don't have a business model to test.

Free streaming on YouTube and Twitch, no cable subscription and geographic restrictions without a paywall. The format had to prove itself before it could justify asking anyone to pay for access. Sure, they can watch it on Sky, but you don’t have to.

Intimate venues with constant action, small arenas where you can see players' faces and hear the game. 6v6 format with game changers and penalty shootouts—no five-minute stretches of passing around the back. Everything was explained during the broadcast, and they weren't assuming audiences already knew how to watch. They were teaching them as they went along.

The £15 ticket removed the price barrier. Free streaming removed the access barrier. Intimate venues and constant action removed the engagement barrier.

Result: They could measure whether people actually came back week after week. One-time attendance is curiosity. Repeat attendance is proof that you built something.

Baller League ran a full season in Germany, measuring retention before expanding to the UK. Same format, different market and proved it again. Then they had two markets’ worth of data showing the model worked before they sold anything in the US.

When Nike evaluated the US partnership, they weren't betting on projections. They were backing operational reality proven across two countries.

Replication framework:

Properties that skip the proof phase spend years retrofitting experiences around whoever paid first. Properties that prove it first sell partnerships faster because the risk is already gone.

Paid endorsements create transactional relationships. Ownership creates evangelists. Audiences know the difference immediately.

What they built:

Creators and Ex-Premier League Players as Owners: KSI is President of the UK League, Speed is President of the US League, and Kai Cenat will manage a team in the US League. They have emotional equity in the product and decision-making power.

When Nike came on as kit partner, all team managers participated in the design process. That doesn't happen in standard sponsor relationships. That happens when people own what they're building.

Multi-platform organic promotion Creators talk about Baller League on their podcasts, other creator channels, and their regular content streams. Because they're genuinely invested, Tobi from the Sidemen is an example of this.

Look at what they do when they're not contractually obligated to do anything. That's the real test.

Traditional credibility mixed with creator distribution, Micah Richards (former Man City player) as team manager. Other traditional footballers as team owners. Takes it beyond "YouTube experiment" into legitimate sports infrastructure.

The ownership structure means creators aren't just showing up for paid appearances. They're building something they own. That changes how they promote it, how they talk about it, and how their audiences perceive it.

Creators with millions of followers can move attention. But only if their enthusiasm is real, will they stick around if the product is great. Audiences detect performative investment instantly.

Replication framework:

Genuine investment from talent creates sustainable distribution. Paid appearances create temporary visibility that disappears when contracts end.

Properties under revenue pressure start selling before proving the format works, or they might have people who aren’t 100% invested in the product or format. Then they spend years trying to make it work while managing partnerships. Baller League proved it worked first, then monetised around proven experiences.

What they built:

Six months of minimum retention data before expanding

Germany: Full season proving format worked and audiences returned weekly.

UK: Replicated with the same format, different market.

US: Sold partnerships backed by two markets of proof.

Nike signed the US league before it launched because Germany and the UK already validated the model. They were backing proven operational reality. Also, as Speed being the president of the US league, Nike gets him and other creators. More hits across multiple creators.

Partnership filter based on experience improvement

Only 6-8 partnerships total across the entire global property. Ged mentioned each partnership must improve at least one experience:

It must ideally improve one of these. If a brand wants to simply enter by slapping a logo on the property, they would most likely turn it down.

These are the core pillars of any sports property.

What passes the filter:

Philips OneBlade (UK): Players get lineups before matches. Improves broadcast experience (sharp on camera), talent experience (service they want), and fan experience (higher production quality). Natural integration.

Nike (Global): Kit partner across all markets. One deal = access to Speed, xQc, KSI, all creators. Distribution efficiency for Nike. Model validation for Baller League.

Operational reality behind the limit:

Small teams can't service 40 partners well. More partnerships = more relationship management, less focus on core experiences. Quality deteriorates into automated reports and hoping nobody asks questions.

Six partnerships that renew and expand generate more value long-term than 40 one-season transactional deals that churn.

This only works with patient capital. Felix Starck (founder) is willing to build over multiple seasons without solely focusing on an immediate return. Not every ownership group has that luxury.

Replication framework:

Critical readiness test:

If no to any, you're not ready to monetise.

Baller League advantages:

What you can replicate:

What you can't:

Be honest about constraints: If you need aggressive year-one revenue to survive, you can't be this selective. If the format isn't clear yet, fix that before monetising. If experiences don't work, more sponsors won't help.

Universal application: Format must be easily explainable. Baller League: "6v6 football with game changers and penalty shootouts." Instant picture. If yours needs a ten-minute explanation, you have a product problem before a partnership problem.

Three experiences determine commercial viability: in-person fans, talent/teams, and broadcast viewers. Build these first, prove they work with retention data, then monetise around proven demand.

Partnerships become validation that you built something worth sponsoring, not the thing you're building while selling it.

Baller League: Germany (prove it) → UK (replicate it) → US (sell it).

Question for the builders reading: What experiences are you trying to monetise before proving they work?

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