Interview with Agaoua, global CEO of the Kings League: we will have 40 Leagues within four years | OneFootball

Expanding the Kings League to 30 or 40 markets within the next three or four years and becoming the ideal platform for introducing new generations to traditional football. These are some of the objectives of Djamel Agaoua, who has been the CEO of the tournament worldwide since October 2024. The Kings League was created by former Barcelona player Gerard Piqué and renowned Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos.

Before joining the Kings League, Agaoua had a long career, including five years as the CEO of Viber, a messaging multiplatform service. He also served as the CEO of the NBA’s Europe and Middle East division and led the implementation of growth strategies for one of the major U.S. leagues in the region.

In this in-depth interview with Calcio e Finanza, Agaoua discusses the development plans for the Kings League, the economic model supporting this innovative football format, the relationship with traditional football — including the partnership with Serie A — and how the competition is developing in Italy.

Question: First of all, could you explain what the Kings League is and who are the main shareholders behind this project?

Answer: The Kings League is a new football format, a new way of playing football created to engage a younger audience. There are many ways young people consume sports; primarily, they do so on small devices, such as smartphones, rather than on large screens. Secondly, this generation has access to many short-duration content pieces. I call them the “swipe-up generation” — they just need one click to move on to the next content. The third thing is that they want to be involved in the content they consume; they want to be part of the story. These are the three principles we applied to this product to make it successful.

The product is mainly designed for smaller devices because it looks like a video game. We’ve also created rules that ensure something intense happens every two or three minutes, avoiding long pauses that would lead to the “swipe-up,” people skipping ahead. Our audience is very engaged with what happens on the pitch. They decide on various aspects like the color of the field, certain locations, player formations, and the evolution of the rules. We involve the audience with the players and presidents: it’s football, but with different rules and a unique way of filming the action that highlights the younger audience.

Q: Gerard Piqué is the most famous figure behind the Kings League project. Who are the other shareholders? How is the business structured?

A: The project originates from the company Piqué founded while still a player, Kosmos. Kosmos has led various sports projects, including football and tennis, like the Davis Cup. The Kings League came from a concept Piqué created with his great friend and leading Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos. Together, they imagined this idea, but they didn’t expect the level of success it has achieved, far exceeding their expectations.

After experiencing such success, Piqué thought it was a good idea to expand this concept to other countries. That’s when we started our international expansion, which was funded by raising capital from investors in the USA and Mexico, raising 60 million euros last year. Piqué is the largest shareholder, but we also have other investors. The primary one is Left Lane Capital, a New York-based investment fund, and we also have David Blitzer, who co-owns an NBA franchise (the Philadelphia 76ers), and Fillip, another company based in Mexico.

Q: You were an executive at the NBA. How important was that experience for launching this project? What have you learned from American sports?

A: The big difference between American and European sports is that Americans see professional sports as a genuine segment of the entertainment business. It’s entertainment even before the game starts. I lived in San Francisco for seven years and worked for a company that sponsored the Golden State Warriors. I went to games several times, and the entertainment begins the moment you step into the arena, even in the parking lot.

A lot happens — you get free items to wear, the bars are fun, it’s all about entertainment. The event is fun even before the game begins and continues until the match is over. This is something that doesn’t scare Americans. They know it’s professional sports, it’s serious, but it must also be fun and exciting.

In Europe, we’re often hesitant to add music, create shows during breaks, or invite artists because sports are viewed as something serious. I think this is the main difference I learned from the NBA: it’s all about the human experience. People want to have a good time with their families.

I’ve also been a traditional fan myself. In my home country (France) and many European countries, it’s harder to take kids to the stadium because the experience isn’t always great, the atmosphere isn’t always fun. That’s the big difference. In America, sports are fun. Basketball, football, and even MLS are family experiences, not just about sports. Take baseball, for example: a baseball game is one of the most boring things you can find (laughs), but it’s fun because you buy your hot dog, there’s music, and you chat with friends. It’s normal — people just want to have fun.

Q: Could you share any anecdotes where this difference was especially clear to you?

A: I remember my first meeting with Adam Silver (NBA Commissioner since 2014) when I first joined the NBA. We were reviewing the setup for the Paris Games (the regular season games the NBA plays in Paris), and the first question he asked was: “Do we have any idea where the fans are coming from?” The first questions were all about the audience: what time would the gates open, where the parking lots were, what shows there would be. All the focus was on the fan experience. It wasn’t just about the competition, which is obviously crucial, but it had to be fun. And that’s what I make sure we have for the Kings League. How can we make it fun, how can we make it fresh and “new” every weekend, how can we make our finals memorable so that people enjoy talking about it and bring their families?

Q: In terms of the budget, what is the economic situation of the project worldwide? How was your business model created?

A: It’s very simple. We have two leagues and two countries where we have a two-year history. In Spain, we are in our third year, and in Mexico, it’s the second. These two leagues are profitable, and we’re very happy with that. We’re investing heavily in expansion. We’ve launched in Italy and announced Brazil, and a major announcement is expected for the launch in a new country. We’re also studying something in Germany, having recently announced a new investor in the country, and much more for the second half of 2025.

Generally, leagues are in loss during the first year, and the goal is to become profitable in the second year. Overall, the company is slightly in loss, which is why we raised 60 million euros to cover these losses — it’s part of the plan. But our idea is to be profitable in every league by the second year of operation.

In the end, we are limited mostly by our structure. We’re a company of 220 people right now, and we’re hiring, so we’ll be between 300 and 350 by the end of the year. We have a lot of work ahead of us. The beauty of football is that it’s played everywhere. We’ve received interest from investors, sports operators, and event companies who want to bring our leagues to their countries. We want to control the product and ensure it works well. Our plan is to have eight leagues by the end of the year and 30 to 40 leagues in the next three or four years.

Our revenue model is different from that of other major sports, which are 75% financed by TV rights sales. We’re on the opposite side, deciding to broadcast content for free to reach as many fans as possible. We stream on YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and other channels. When we approach partners and sponsors, who are fully integrated and not just for the games, our model allows them to reach an audience 10 to 15 times bigger than they could through traditional sports. Our main revenue comes from sponsorships, not just during the games, and our partners account for 60-65% of our revenue. This is because we produce a lot of content between games and seasons. We also produce content with players, creating a strong presence on social platforms. We also have merchandising and ticketing, and 85% of our audience is under 30. I don’t think we’re going to lose this audience. We know, for example, that Serie A is very active on weekends, and our fans follow traditional football, which is why we play on Mondays. We don’t want to compete with them; we want to be a complementary product.

Q: The involvement of professional players is very important for the Kings League. How have these players reacted to the format you’ve introduced?

A: Our game is quite intense and very different from traditional football. There isn’t much time to catch your breath. The “Legends” who are particularly skilled love this game because it highlights their abilities, even though they have to be in good shape due to the high intensity. It really depends on the case — for example, Piqué struggles with these fast-paced rules; it’s all too quick for him. Many of them love the concept and share our vision of innovation and novelty for younger generations. 90% of the Legends we’ve worked with love the Kings League idea. Having them with us is wonderful. Fans love seeing professional players playing with ordinary people, people with whom the audience can identify. When you see a player like Casillas facing off against someone like you in a penalty shootout, and he accepts the challenge, it’s very fun, and the fans feel connected. Casillas even told me that young people now recognize him more for the Kings League than for his entire career, which is crazy.

We create new types of stars. Like Kelvin Oliveira or Nadir, two guys who were completely unknown. Oliveira just signed a deal with Nike, and in the announcement, he wore Brazil’s shirt with Ronaldo the Phenomenon on his back. It’s a “Cinderella story,” where people who were unknown can become stars thanks to the Kings League.

Q: You’ve told us about the great success you’ve had in Spain and Piqué’s decision to attract new investors for your international expansion. How is the adventure in Italy going?

A: Very well. We knew it would go well. Last year, we held the Club World Cup in Mexico and gave out wild cards to several teams, including an Italian team led by Blur, the top streamer in Italy. This team played in the World Cup and became the first point of attraction for the Kings League, with great results. We also had a very successful first World Cup for Nations. The finals were held in Turin at the Allianz Stadium, and we filled the stadium: 40,000 people for the Brazil-Colombia final. This created a lot of hype. We have a great lineup of streamers, and since we started the league, we’ve had between 3 and 3.5 million connected devices every Monday during our games. We had some technical issues initially, but we’re very happy with the results we’ve achieved and the audience.Q: The success of Kings League Lottomatica.sport Italy is also confirmed by big sponsors and important broadcasters, in addition to the collaboration with Serie A. How are you working with these partners?

A: When we started this adventure, many described us as the killers of the football world. People said we were the future of football and that traditional football would disappear, but that was never our thinking. We’re very ambitious, but we see ourselves as “facilitators” for football. We believe we’re the perfect way to pull the new generation into the world of football, rather than letting them drift to other sports. If we let other sports drive the revolution and just sit back and watch, it could become a problem in 20 years.

I believe that football remains the number one sport worldwide, and we want to help promote it, as we’re doing with Serie A. How can we do this? By bringing what we have — know-how on how to create content for the new generations, the format of the content. This is what we want to bring to Serie A. We have streamers and their communities, full of football fans. The streamers are crucial because they bring 50% of our audience. This is very important because one of our core principles is that fans should be engaged. And they feel engaged when they comment on platforms, and the streamer reads and responds to their comment. That’s how we build a relationship with the fan.

That’s why streamers are so strategic in our concept. They create specific interactions and relationships, and fans feel part of the project. For example, we’ve made the market a real game, where fans and streamers interact to decide whether to buy a particular player. I think we’ll bring ideas, some of which may apply to traditional football and some that won’t. And our format provides a fresh way of looking at football. There’s more than just top players. Serie A has understood that we’re part of the football ecosystem, and in the coming months, there will be various collaborative events, and together we’ll promote football, especially to younger generations.

Q: Regarding structures, are you satisfied with the Fonzies Arena in Milan, or are you looking for something bigger?

A: We really like the Fonzies Arena in Milan. It was built in two or three months, and we’re very pleased with the result. The only problem is that we have a short-term license for the place. We’re in talks to extend the license or find another place for a long-term license. It doesn’t have to be in Milan — we like Torino too, and we’ve discussed the future with both cities. We’re looking for the best deal possible in this regard. Our team and offices are in Milan, so it’s convenient, but Torino also welcomed us very well for the World Cup, so we’re talking to both cities.

Q: In Spain, we saw you take the Kings League finals to the iconic Camp Nou. Have you already thought about what to do for Italy? Maybe organizing them in a historic stadium like San Siro?

A: We’re working on the finals, which will likely take place in May, and the location will be announced very soon. Historically, we’ve used large stadiums and indoor arenas. We really like both options, but we also like the chance to have a darker atmosphere in indoor arenas for the experience we want to offer. Let’s say that if we hold finals in the spring, indoor arenas are the best for us. However, if we hold finals in the winter, outdoor stadiums are fine because it gets dark earlier. For example, we played in Turin at 6 PM and achieved the experience we were looking for. This time, however, there’s a high probability that the finals will be held in a nice indoor arena in Italy.Q: Just as you did with Serie A, do you think there will be a chance to collaborate with the highest levels of football institutions like FIFA or UEFA?

A: We’ve discussed things with UEFA and FIFA — large organizations — but it takes a long time to connect with them. We have a project that’s been around for a year or so, but we believe it will take time. FIFA and UEFA have to be careful with formats like ours. Our job is to make this model work, and then we’ll see if they’ll open up to us. But we’re not trying to become a competitor to the top levels of football; we’re trying to be complementary.