October 7 – Baller League UK has signed Buy Now Pay Later provider Clearpay as an official partner for its fourth season, which will also see the six-a-side competition move its regular season operation out of London’s Copper Box Arena and into a film studio in Dagenham.
Clearpay will sponsor the Baller League’s matchday production, transfer windows, digital channels and merchandise, with the league’s sudden-death shootout rebranded as ‘The Penalty Point, Unlocked by Clearpay’.
It will also put its name to the competition’s pre- and mid-season transfer windows, giving the payments company some of the social inventory made for a league that has always sold as much on content as football.
Baller League says Season 3 generated 344 million short video views, averaging 1.3 million live unique viewers per day and 1.85 million for the Final Four. More than 70% of its audience was between 18 and 34 years old.
Rich Bayer, CEO of Clearpay, said: “Just as Clearpay modernized the credit industry and made payments more accessible to today’s consumers, the Baller League UK has done the same for sports entertainment. By combining the legends of football and the beautiful game with a next-generation digital format that leads content creators, they have developed a completely new concept. We are committed to our partnership with UK League customers. A true innovation that takes entertainment to the next level.”
All 11 regular season 3 matches were staged at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Copper Box Arena, a 7,500 capacity venue, before the Final Four moved to The O2. Instead, Season 4 will be based at Eastbrook Studios in Dagenham.
Eastbrook is a major film and television production campus rather than a conventional sports arena. It is located in Zone 5, about 12 miles from central London, with 12 sound stages designed primarily for broadcast production. No spectator capacity has been released for the Baller League’s new ballpark.
So, at least on paper, it’s a step down in scale of the venue and accessibility from the copper box. The trade-off appears to be greater control over the production environment and a tighter live set-up, with tickets for Season 4 explicitly selling the idea of fans being closer to the action.
Sky Sports will no longer carry it, while Angry Ginge’s Yanited, one of the competition’s original teams, appear to have dropped the list. Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi has joined the new P17 FC squad.
Felix Starck, CEO of Baller League, said: “We are delighted to welcome Clearpay as an official partner of Baller League UK. Our league is built on speed, drama and unforgettable fan experiences, from sudden-death penalty kicks that can change the standings, to new signings that transform a team. This partnership puts Clearpay at the heart of these moments, making brand stories involved throughout the season.”
Season 4 begins on October 12, with all 11 regular season games scheduled in Eastbrook. The league has not yet announced where its next Final Four will be played.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)