YouTubers, Ex-Pros & Influencers - but what is Baller League?
Will Jackson 
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you'll have noticed a lot of noise around Baller League in the UK.
It's been all over social media, streamed live on YouTube, hosted on Sky Sports and it even has odds on sports betting sites - but what do we know about it?
I've had a closer look at the background of the league, the teams and personalities involved and how it's been received so far.
How does it work?
Baller League was actually started in Germany a couple of years ago and streamed live on Twitch, so it's taken a little bit of time for the concept - which was originally led by Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski alongside an entrepreneur - to catch on over here.
But the UK version kicked off last week on March 24 and so far we've seen two gameweeks with games taking place on Monday night, and set to run until June 2 - lasting a total of 11 weeks.
It's played in London and is essentially six-a-side, with teams made up of a mix of retired professionals, released academy players and futsal players, so there is a good chance you will have heard of some of the players turning up.
Where it changes from your typical events such as Masters Football, is that there are rule twists introduced during matches which can see things like 3v3 introduced, long-range goals counting double and MLS-style penalties.
It all sounds a bit gimmicky, but it's who is involved with Baller League that sets it apart and is why it appeals so much to a certain demographic - and probably why it goes slightly over my head! Which brings us onto the next thing...
Who is involved?
Let's face it, six-a-side, funky rules, ex-pros playing - it's nothing we haven't seen or heard of before, right?
Where Baller League is different and clearly appeals to the Gen Z demographic, is that it's headlined by YouTubers and Twitch personalities.
Everyone will be pretty familiar by now with Misfits Boxing which has really taken off since it was headlined and launched by KSI, and clearly the hope is that this could be something similar.
KSI has been named president of the UK league - IShowSpeed has already been confirmed as president of the US version - AngryGinge is on one of the management teams (you might have seen clips of him go viral on social media stood on the touchline cosplaying as a manager in a waistcoat) along with Miniminter and Tobi, both part of the YouTube group Sidemen.
So that's Gen Z sorted in terms of appeal, but there is something in it for Millennials like myself too, with people like Gary Lineker, John Terry, Luis Figo, Robert Pires, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and more involved.
So you've got a mix of YouTubers, influencers and former professionals all involved, but who is actually playing? Well, we've got you covered with that as well.
Baller 2025 Players & Managers
26ers - John Terry
J'ardell Stirling, Bilal Sayoud, Sak Hassan, Kojo Apenteng, Marcel Lewis, Jordon Ibe, Matt Chizzum, Emmanuel Rowe, Justin Dass, Spike Stegel, Vladislav Platinov, Jack Crook.
Deportrio - Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Gary Lineker
Bakary Sako, Adam Dawson, Francis Gerald Mapolo, Zach Fagan, Marvin Sordell, Charlie Kuehn, Tommy Scott, Raphael Gas, Alex Dyer, Ruben Singale, Tristan Goodridge, Leo Serri.
FC Rules the World - Clint 419
Michael Ndiweni, Josh Harrop, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kevin Gonzalez, Oliver Bosworth, Karim Kamhouri, Erghis Pepy, Onuchi Oki, Yusuf Shentu, Alamiji Oluma, Sandro Kamara, Festus Chalet.
M7 FC - Miniminter
Jesse Waller-Lassen, Femi Akinwande, Stefan Ilic, Jean Belehouan, Toby Bull, Sam Fitzgerald, Arjun Young, Ramez Gonzalo, Arin Zaha, Lewis Garcia, Henry Wise, Zion Nditi.
MVPs United - Alisha Lehmann, Maya Jama
Lorenzo Spinelli, Ashton Peltier, Jake Chambers Shaw, Ross Derham, Josh Misoki, James Canton, Alfie Matthew, Declan McCarthy, Jay Beckford, Joe Edwards, Dwayne Suel, Esteban Salgado.
N5 FC - Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg
Owen Locke, Adrian Mariappa, Brian Ly, Charlie Wakefield, Dayo Adekayo, Chris Arba, Imran Kahani, Michael Class, James Alabi, Troy Molunda, Freddie Berrati, Callum Charlton.
Santan FC - Dave
Michael Hill, Richard Kesey, Dominic Voss, Erick Kenco, Ranell McKenzie Lowes, Jamell Abou-Bakare, Rico Okinari, David Upu, Abdullah Gervardi, Jack Wilson, David Solidemi, Luka Valentine.
SDS FC - Sharky
Bruno Andrade, Bayley Brown, Ody Alfa, Cole Da Silva, David Marques Castanho, Calvin Dickson, Big John, Camillo Astreppo, Finley Chadwick, Michael Felibe, Hussein Mahdi, Tyler Edmundson.
Trebol FC - Luis Figo
Montel McKenzie, Vani Da Silva, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Modi, Ethan Oke, Reggie, Emi, Ryan Gorwell, Jordan Brown, Shani Omed, Aaron Steven, Nathan Bowen.
VZN FC - Tobi Brown
Henri Lansbury, Kurtice Herbert, Jerome Sinclair, Remy Mitchell, Montel McKenzie, Florian Kastrati, Michael Olive-Wigan, Barrell Mensah, Ethan McClear, Diego Dombaboni, Jami Kheresi, Luka Barusic.
Wembley Rangers - Ian Wright, Chloe Kelly
Domingos Pires, Check Fayum, Ben Long, Stuart Cook, Oliver Cannon, Juan Pablo, Ruben Junior, Luke Gambin, Kaylen Kofi, Braden Shaw, Joseph Diomande, Nabid Eshari.
Yanited - Angry Ginge
Kadell Daniel, Michael Hector, Mohammed Mahyoub, Remy Clerima, Percy Kiangebeni, Medy Elito, Max Pitman, Harry Cain, Henry O'Shea, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Woods, Pharrel Mensah
If traditional football is more to your taste, we have a full round of midweek fixtures which means you can check out our latest Premier League tips from expert Tony Scott.
There's live coverage all week from the Premier League with Nottingham Forest v Manchester United, Liverpool v Everton and Chelsea v Tottenham the standout fixtures on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
