The Kings League, founded by Barcelona footballing legend Gerard Piqué and Spanish Twitch sensation Ibai, has enjoyed a fruitful first couple of years. This success has helped it expand globally, with the latest announcement taking the hybrid competition to one of the homes of football.
The Kings League Italy was revealed on November 19 and will involve some of the biggest names in the country. Fans will get to see their favorite content creators from the European nation don the hat of owners/presidents, with renowned footballing legends also roped in under special roles.
Kings League Italy dates and venue
Not much was revealed about when and where the league would be held, with details to come out later. Nevertheless, Italy will become the third region to host a Kings League competition after Spain and the Americas, which includes teams and streamers from the LATAM territory.
One special announcement was made regarding the inaugural Kings World Cup Nations, which will be held in Italy, with the final to be played at the Juventus Stadium on January 12. The draw to determine the various groups and matchups for this massive global tournament will occur on December 5. Tickets for those looking to attend the final of the World Cup Nations can be purchased here.
Joining the list of former footballers to promote the inaugural Kings World Cup Nations and the new Italian league are ex-Italy stars Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Del Piero, Marco Storari, and Gianluigi Buffon. Former Italy and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio will serve as the head of competition of this exciting new local league.
Sweden and AC Milan legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic will serve as the president of the Kings League Italy, a role he also played at the first-ever Kings World Cup 2024 this summer. He was quoted as saying about the upcoming event:
"It will bring spectacle, showmanship, and entertainment for the fans—something they've never seen before. We're all excited. I'm happy because it's a format that's completely different from professional football, and the fans will enjoy it. If things go well... maybe I can still do something. Like Totti, we all want to get back on the pitch, but once we're out there, it's a different story."
Kings League Italy teams and owners
| Stallions (Tumblurr)
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Gear7 FC (Manuuxo)
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Punchers FC (PirlasV)
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| Boomers (Fedez)
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Zebras FC (Luca Campolunghi)
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Circus FC (GrenBaud)
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| FC Zeta (ZW Jackson)
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FC Caesar (Er Faina + En3rix)
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Alpak FC (Frenezy)
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| Black Lotus FC (Off Samuel + Sergio Cruz)
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TRM FC (TheRealMarzaa)
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Underdogs FC (Mirko Cisco)
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Among the more recognized celebrities/influencers to take up the role of owners are Fedez, the Italian rapper and singer-songwriter, and Tumblurr, one of the country's top streamers on Twitch. There are a total of 12 teams who will compete for the honor of being the first Kings League Italy champion.
Kings League Italy live streams
The tournament, which blew up globally thanks to its ease of access across various live-streaming services, will retain this element by broadcasting its games live on these platforms:
Coming to the announcement live stream from November 18, it was broadcast on Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, and Kick. The Kings League Italy Presentation recorded 136K Viewers, 254K Hours Watched, and 101.5K Average Viewers over three hours of airtime.
It did similar audience statistics to another football event featuring former players, the Nexon Icons Match 2024. This exhibition match featuring ex-players was basically a team of attackers versus a team of defenders, with football fans coming together to support children with cancer.
It was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium last month and attracted 114.5K PV and 210.5 HW. Although both these footballing events failed to reach high viewership stats, it was the impact they had on followers of the game in Korea and Italy that was most crucial.
Among the most popular channels to cover the broadcast were Tumblurr and TheRealMarzaa, two of the biggest names in the Italian content creation scene who also ended up as owners of two sides from the new league. Spanish star DjMaRiiO also covered the entire event, making his channels on Twitch and YouTube the second and third most popular ones, while they combined to bring around 60M HW.
There are still a lot of details to come out regarding the Kings League Italy, but fans of the hybrid competition can rest easy knowing it continues to grow as a global phenomenon. Italian football fans, especially, will be chomping at the bit to catch the action, and Streams Charts will continue providing updates about the new tournament for those looking to keep tabs.
