DLA Piper has advised EQT Ventures, the venture arm of Swedish private equity group EQT, on leading the USD25 million Series A investment round in a new six a side football competition named the ‘Baller League’.
Founded in 2023, the start-up Baller League hopes to attract fans with 30-minute matches and watching games on digital channels. The league, which has already been going for two seasons in Germany, has the support of former professionals such as Gary Lineker, Ronaldinho, Luis Figo and John Terry. The start-up raised USD8 million this summer and is now expanding in the US and UK.
The league has already gathered nearly one million combined followers across digital platforms, with matches streamed on YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and other social channels, making it the number one Twitch channel in Germany and one of the top five globally.
The international DLA Piper team was led by Corporate Partner Luca Gori and Associate Matthew Rose in London, Partner Andreas Füchsel and Senior Associate Philipp Meyer in Germany and Partner Mikael Moreira and Senior Associate Samira Bandick in Sweden.
DLA Piper Corporate partner, Luca Gori, commented “This is an exciting investment for EQT Ventures as the Baller League aims to attract younger fans who watch games predominantly on digital channels. It follows a trend of private equity and venture capital funds investing in sport in a broadening spectrum of formats”.
