Kings League

The Kings League follows an Apertura and Clausura-style format in which each season is divided into two splits: the Winter Split and the Summer Split. Both splits have their own league stage and playoffs, and during the league stage, the twelve teams play eleven matchdays and face every other team once. The top eight teams based on their rankings at the end of the league stage advance to the playoffs. Each matchday features six forty-minute matches, which are divided into two twenty-minute halves, and are played consecutively on the same ground.[6]

For the inaugural season, players were given the opportunity to apply and were selected through a draft process that took place on December 27, 2022.[7] Prospective players underwent physical and skill testing before the top prospects were allocated to teams. Each team selected ten players, with two additional roster slots reserved for guest players, such as footballers or streamers, who are known as the 11th Player and 12th Player. These 11th and 12th Players can change on each match day, the 11th player is meant to stay with the team for the entire season.[8]

The league also has plans to establish a version for female players, which is called the Queens League.[9]

The Kings League has a set of rules that have been created through a voting process conducted on social media platforms, where fans were given the opportunity to contribute and vote on the rules.

These rules include a tie-breaker penalty shootout from the center of the field, the use of offsides, the allowance of handballs for throw-ins, unlimited substitutions, yellow cards resulting in a 2-minute exclusion, and red cards resulting in a 5-minute exclusion until a substitute can enter. The game starts with the ball in the center of the field and players starting from the back line, player numbers ranging from 0 to 99, games are divided into two 20-minute halves, and there is the inclusion of special "secret weapons" that each team can use once per game. These secret weapons include a penalty kick in their favor, a shootout in their favor, the exclusion of an opposing player for 2 minutes, a double goal for 2 minutes, a wildcard, and the ability to steal an opposing team's secret weapon card.[2]

The Kings League is being held at the Cupra Arena, located in the port of Barcelona. The Cupra Arena is part of the Logistics Activities Area (ZAL in Spanish) of the Port of Barcelona.[10] On 20 January 2023, Gerard Piqué and FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced that the semifinals, final and third place match of the winter split playoffs would be held as a 'Final Four' event at the Camp Nou, the home ground of FC Barcelona, on March 26, 2023.[11]

All matches of the Kings League will be available for live streaming on the league's official Twitch, YouTube and TikTok channels, as well as on the individual channels of the team chairpersons, and it will be free for viewers to watch.[9]

Kings League has been growing in popularity, as reflected in the increasing audience numbers. The tournament reached an average audience of 450,000 viewers in the first round, peaking at 780,000 viewers during the match between Saiyans FC and Porcinos FC. In the second round, the average audience grew to 558,200 viewers, with a peak of 945,000 viewers during the match between xBuyer Team and Kunisports. And in the third round, it broke the record again, with the match between Ultimate Móstoles and Xbuyer Team gathering more than 1.3 million people.[5]

The Kings League has been met with mixed reactions from fans and critics alike. One of the most controversial aspects of the league is its use of wild card rules, which allow teams to draw bonuses such as penalties, goal multipliers, and head-starts before the match begins.

Additionally, the Kings League final launch featured a mysterious player dressed as a Mexican wrestler, known only as "Enigma." Despite speculation that the player could be a well-known professional, the identity of Enigma remains unknown.[12]

La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticized the Kings League, calling it a "circus." However, Kings League president Gerard Piqué defended the league, stating that in order to attract a younger audience, the league must create shorter and more entertaining content. He also argued that if matches are to be 90 minutes long, the league "should at least introduce more stimulating rules."[13][14]

The list of competing teams and their 'chairpersons', the personalities in charge of managing them, was revealed during the league's launch livestream on 10 November 2022.[15]

Team name	Person	Role
Pío FC	Rivers	Chairman
	Gerardo Torrado	Coach
Rayo de Barcelona	Spursito	Chairman
	Juanlu DBZ	Coach
Saiyans FC	TheGrefg	Chairman
	Daniel Romo	Coach
Jijantes FC	Gerard Romero	Chairman
	Marc Carmona	Coach
	Ibai Gómez	Assistant Coach
xBuyer Team	xBuyer	Co-Chairmen
	MiniBuyer
	Víctor González	Coach
Los Troncos FC	Perxitaa	Chairman
	Pol Font	Coach
Ultimate Móstoles	DjMaRiio	Chairman
	Nacho Castro	Coach
Aniquiladores	Juan Guarnizo	Chairman
	Sergio Verdirame	Coach
Kunisports	Sergio Agüero	Chairman, Guest Player
	Martín Posse	Coach
Porcinos FC	Ibai Llanos	Chairman
	Juvenal Edjogo-Owono	Coach
1K	Iker Casillas	Chairman
	Julio García Mera	Coach
El Barrio	Adri Contreras	Chairman
	Juan Arroita	Coach
	GxldePaulinho	Assistant Coach

Kings League teams have the possibility to invite one player (the "12th Player") each matchday.[16]

Player	Team
Javier Hernández[17]	Porcinos FC
Jonathan Soriano	Jijantes FC
Carles Planas	Los Troncos FC
José Juan	El Barrio
Javier Saviola	Kunisports
Raúl Tamudo	Porcinos FC
Rubén de la Red	Ultimate Móstoles
César Delgado	Aniquiladores
Ricardo	1K
Joan Capdevila	Saiyans FC
Alberto Lopo	Pío FC
Joan Verdú	Los Troncos FC
Sergio Agüero	Kunisports
Alberto Bueno	1K
Dídac Vilà	Rayo de Barcelona
Nicolás Pareja	El Barrio
Fabián Orellana	xBuyer Team
Antonio Barragán	Jijantes FC

The inaugural season started on 1 January 2023 and is scheduled to end on 26 March 2023.

• Official website
• Official Twitch chanel