The Kings League is here to stay
Over 92,000 were at the Camp Nou to witness the Kings League finals. I was one of them.
The Kings League has taken (too) many by surprise. For some it seemed like it was just Gerard Piqué’s whim to fill up the void left by his retirement from football.
But far were they from the truth after seeing the impact of the Kings League ‘Final Four’ at the Camp Nou, with over 92,000 people filling up the stadium for around 7 hours and a peak audience of 2.16 million (over 15 million accumulated views).
I was among the tens of thousands present at Barça’s home ground to experience the Kings League fever first-hand after following the competition closely since it was first announced.
The idea of having popular streamers and ex-footballers presiding their own club and competing among each other certainly appealed to me. Even more when they were willing to introduce a series of different rules to make the matches more exciting and unpredictable. Football with a twist.
Yes, I said football, even though many seem reluctant to relate the Kings League to this beloved sport because it’s shifted away from the traditional approach in favour of entertainment.
In November 2022 Piqué already insisted, in an interview, that football needed to be “more exciting” in reply to all the controversy generated by Florentino Pérez’s proposal to captivate the younger audience by creating the infamous ‘Super League’. Although Piqué had a different idea which he has already executed successfully, unlike Real Madrid’s president.
The turnout at the Camp Nou proved this has a future and that he was pretty much spot on about bringing up the excitement levels. Sitting right in front of me was a group of kids of around 6-8 years old who were completely devoted to their team. It was an emotional rollercoaster, to the point that one of them would even turn around with his back facing the pitch, whenever his team was shooting a penalty. I saw those boys celebrate, shout, laugh, sulk… The passion and interest was undoubtedly there. So football isn’t completely dead for the younger audiences.
Regarding the football itself, the level is surprisingly good. We’re not talking LaLiga quality but despite being its first year, the combination of local talent and former (or unemployed) footballers has worked out pretty well. Especially during the play-offs, where the intensity and quality increased thanks to the incentive of playing at the Camp Nou.
It can only get better from here onwards, given the idea is for the players to make a living out of their participation in the Kings League. Currently they’ve been earning 75 euros per match (a bit more for the finals), so from 2024 onwards with the earned prestige and higher wages, superior players are expected to join the draft.
Yet you can’t fill up 7 hours just with only football. So in this sense Piqué was wise enough to get inspiration from the USA, where going to watch your team play at a stadium is also an experience. Musical performances, helicopters flying over the stadium, fireworks or the club presidents walking on the field for a penalty shoot-out to then gift footballs by kicking them into the stands, were also part of the show.
Overall it was an entertaining day out, however it definitely went on for too long and there were things to improve on for future events like the sound quality in certain areas of the stadium and the long queues for food (which are a classic anyway in Barça’s games). But Piqué and his company Kosmos definitely have an incredible product on their hands.
Now the Kings League takes a break from football to focus on the transfer market during this month of April, to then return in May for the second split.