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As soon as you pass through the entrance, the darkness of the arena envelops you for a moment, but then… the lights explode. Colourful lasers cut through the air, the stands vibrate as one. Around you, brightly coloured jerseys and stadium chants blend with the environment. You are no longer just a spectator: you are part of the game. At the centre, the pitch is a hi-tech arena. Smoke, flames, real-time graphics. Every detail is designed to amaze and engage in live streaming and social media. It’s football, yes. But it’s mixed with spectacle, gaming and pure adrenaline.
On Monday, 27 October 2025, Startupbusiness attended a Kings League Italia match day at the brand new arena in Cologno Monzese (pictured). In addition to a series of matches, the day also celebrated the new partnership between FC Circus, the Kings League Italia team chaired by content creator Grenbaud, and Serie A professional club Hellas Verona. This is the first partnership in Italy between a KL Italia club and a professional football club, a partnership that aims to combine the heritage of traditional football with the dynamic and experimental spirit of the Kings League, involving fans of different generations and platforms. The collaboration includes the creation of original content, a merchandising line and joint sponsorship initiatives, with the aim of establishing a unique football ecosystem that combines the competitive intensity of Serie A with the creativity and interactivity of the Kings League format. In addition, as part of the partnership, Hellas Verona and Fc Circus will carry out integrated digital campaigns, fan experiences and cross-promotional activations designed to enhance the identities of both clubs. There will also be an exclusive merchandising collection dedicated to the link between Hellas Verona and Circus, which is scheduled to launch during the current season.
Kings League, the startup
The reason why Startupbusiness is covering it is clear: the Kings League is effectively a sports entertainment start-up. It is a seven-a-side football competition that was created in 2022 by Gerard Pique, former Spanish footballer for Barcelona, and Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos, one of the most popular streamers in Spain. The Kings League has quickly become a viral phenomenon. Because? This competition has gone viral both because it is broadcast on high-traffic social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and TikTok, and because it is an explosive combination of sport and entertainment. In fact, it is based on traditional football rules, revised and enriched with spectacular elements that create social media content. The project was also conceived after a famous statement by Pique, who said, “Nowadays, many spectators pay for tickets to traditional football matches that very often end 0-0,” meaning that they enjoy little entertainment during the matches. The Kings League is primarily based on creating spectacle in matches, creating unpredictability, creating content for the web and social media that brings traffic, views, likes, and essentially interaction and engagement.
In its early years, the Kings League has experienced rapid and significant growth, just like a truly successful start-up: the first two leagues, Spain and South America, have grown to seven, with five new additions, four of which are already up and running: Italy, France, Germany and MENA (Middle East North Africa). The Kings League North America is expected to launch shortly.
Starting this year, in addition to the usual Split, the 11 national league matches, each Kings league also has the Kings Cup, a sort of Italian Cup, where the 12 league teams are divided into two groups of six, which play each other in their own group. The top teams in each group go straight to the semi-finals, while the second-placed teams go to the quarter-finals. The third and fourth-placed teams go to the Last Chance round, where they compete against each other for a place in the quarter-finals. But the Kings League is not just about Split and Cup, there is also the Kings League World Cup Nations, i.e. the world cup for nations, as well as the Kings League World Cup Clubs, i.e. the world cup for individual teams from the various Kings leagues. So what started as a phenomenon in Spain is now almost a global phenomenon.
How does it work?
The game format
Pitch and roses: Kings League is played 7-a-side on a football pitch with dimensions normally used for 9-a-side football. Each team has a squad of 12 players: 9 League Players paid by the league and selected through a draft after trials, plus 3 Wildcards paid directly by the teams and chosen outside the official trials, such as Simone Lo Faso of the Boomers, Vlad Marin of the AlpaK, Tommaso Conte of the Circus, Riccardo Vono of the TRM, Florenzi and Moscardelli of the BigBro.
Match structure
The match lasts 36 minutes and is divided into progressive phases that make the game dynamic and spectacular. The first 5 minutes are played in Escalado: it starts with 1 against 1 with a flying goalkeeper and gradually adds one player per team every minute until reaching a full 7 against 7. From the 5th to the 17th minute, the game is played normally as 7-a-side, while from the 17th to the 20th minute, each goal is worth double.
Between the 20th and 23rd minute, the Mega Dice sponsored by JD Sports comes into play: the result of the roll determines whether the game is played 1 on 1, 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 with continuous rotations in attack or defence situations. After the 3 minutes of dice play, the game returns to 7 on 7 until the end of the match in the 36th minute.
In Kings, the clock works like in the NBA, so it’s actual playing time, which means that the clock stops whenever the game stops.
Conclusione della partita
At the end of 36 minutes, the match ends in two different ways depending on the result. If there is a draw, there is a shootout: 1 against 1 against the goalkeeper starting from the halfway line with 5 seconds to score. Each team has 5 attempts and the team that scores the most wins. If, on the other hand, one team is ahead by only one goal, the Desescalado is activated: the teams progressively scale down from 5 against 5 to 1 against 1 with a flying goalkeeper, and the team that scores first, bringing the lead to +2, wins.
Special elements
Two elements make the Kings League unique and spectacular: the presidential penalty and the secret cards. From the 5th minute of play, the team president (usually a streamer, content creator or celebrity) can take to the pitch once per match to take a penalty to equalise or take the lead or close the gap for their team, creating moments of great entertainment.
Secret cards are drawn before the match by a member of staff and can be played strategically from the 5th minute onwards. Among the cards available are the classic penalty, the shootout, the double goal, the suspension of an opposing player for 4 minutes, or the Star player, which doubles the goal scored by the chosen player. In addition, there is also the Joker, which allows you to steal the effect of your opponent’s card or choose one of the other effects, while the new feature for 2025 is the reverse penalty: an opposing player chosen by the opposing team must take a penalty and if they miss, the team that played the card scores a goal, while if they score, it has no value.
Kings League, a magnet for ‘exes’
Over the years, many legends have played in the competition, both in Italy and in other leagues, such as Totti, Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Casillas, Kun Aguero, Jankulovski, Hernanes, Jacopo Sala, Moscardelli, Falcao, Eden Hazard, Shevchenko, Bonucci, Llorente, Ménez, etc. But you can also find players who have recently retired from professional football, such as Florenzi and Nainggolan, Marcelo in Brazil, and other similar cases. Alternatively, you can also find players who are currently active as presidents of Kings teams, such as Maignan, Koundé, Tchouaméni, Manu Koné, Bryan Mbeumo and Senny Mayulu, who are co-presidents of 360 Nation, a Kings League France team, and from this year we can also find Lamine Yamal as president of La Capital, a Kings League Spain team.
All this tells us that the Kings League phenomenon has attracted and continues to attract those who grew up on bread and football: legends, former players, and active players who want to participate in this new form of football and entertainment. And the outlook for Kings, the start-up, is to continue growing. If these are the results in less than four years since its creation, well, it can only get better.
Kings League, the startup’s figures
The Kings League closed 2023 with €20.54 million in revenue and €355,000 in net profit: a significant jump from just €20,000 in 2022, the start-up’s first year of operation.
Costs and investments
Like any rapidly growing start-up, costs are focused on expansion: €17 million on operations and €3 million on personnel.
Digital-first model
90% of revenue comes from sponsorships (Adidas, Spotify, Prime, Santander). No traditional TV rights: distribution is entirely digital via Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Tickets for the finals are marginal.
Financing
Kosmos, Gerard Piqué’s holding company, has raised €60 million: a sign of confidence in the model that combines sport, entertainment and viral content for a young, digital audience. The model is scalable and aims to grow exponentially in the coming years through global audiences and new partnerships.
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