The laboratory of ideas of Kosmos, the company that organizes sporting events chaired by Gerard Piqué, has its new formula for success ready. Only a few months ago the Kings League was born and after the first edition, crowned by 92,522 people at the Camp Nou and 2.1 million viewers on social networks during the first final of the tournament, now the time has come to climb the next step. This Saturday starts the sister competition of the Kings League, the Queens League, a women's league with the same characteristics as the men's competition, both in the format and in the conditions for the players. "We are going to put women's football to another level," Piqué predicted on the day the 12 teams that will play the first edition were formed. "The competition will be at the same level as the men's league in every way: salaries [75 euros per game], pitch, rules ... This is our message to the world," said the former Barcelona player.
From this weekend, on Saturdays the Queens League matches will be played and on Sunday it will be the turn of the Kings, which starts its second edition. In both competitions, one of the matches of each day (the 20.00) will be broadcast on television by Cuatro as well as by the channels of the league and the streamers presidents and presidents such as Ibai Llanos, TheGrefg, Mayichi or Gemita, with millions of followers. For the Kings League draft there were 170 players eligible to be selected. The vast majority played in the regional categories of Catalonia and few of them had experience in the elite. In the case of Queens, there were 250 who passed the cut and, although the base is also composed mostly of members of Catalan regional football, they have found more profiles of players with professional past and even present.
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The Kings League triumphs because it's football made TikTok
The Kings League has become a claim for players of modest teams who find the perfect platform to make themselves known and gain thousands of followers on social networks. The vast majority of them have opened a channel on Twitch or YouTube, driven by their presidents to join the world of streaming. Many of the women now starting their time in the Queens League intend to follow in the footsteps of their peers and become content creators. But the appeal of the competition goes much further. This is explained by Sara Ismael (24 years old, Girona), the player chosen as number one in the draft, a midfielder with a past in Barcelona and Espanyol and who now plays in the ranks of Zaragoza CFF in the Second Federation. "As a guest I am delighted, but it has not crossed my mind to open a channel. I don't have a lot of time, I'm part of a professional team, now I've got into Queens and at the same time I'm studying [fourth year of physical activity and sport science]. I don't have enough free time either," acknowledges the player of Aniquiladoras, the team of streamers Juan Guarnizo and Espe.
Queens League players during the draft. Manuel Queimadelos (Manuel Queimadelos/Quality Sport Images/Queens League)
Ismael's goal is not to become a content creator, but to take advantage of the visibility that the Queens League gives her to boost her career. "I'm going to Queens with everything because I think it's going to have a brutal impact and it's a way to make people see that I have a lot of football to give and in the category I'm in now it's a bit complicated. There is not so much facility to watch the games, the TVs do not give them unless it is on Aragon TV, "says the Girona, international with the selection of Egypt, country of origin of his father, who will debut in the competition in the match that will broadcast Four this Saturday. "It's incredible. They're riding it very well and it's going to kick in. It's a way to show that we can also give a show and that if it's done well, as it is, it's going to have a lot of impact." Ismael, whose contract with Zaragoza ends at the end of this season, looks to Queens for the platform so that, with his performances on the field, he attracts the attention of professional teams. "I've been in professional football for quite a few years, I made my debut in the first division at the age of 16, I have a lot of discipline and clear ideas. My goal is to be professional. I want to hold on to Queens to do my best and be able to show that I have a lot to give."
Reconciling with football
Visibility is one of the most important points to attract players of increasing level, but it is not the only one. Good vibes, without the typical pressures of professional teams, is another facet that most convinces female players to get on this train. Former footballer Irene López (Madrid, 21), European Under-19 champion and under-champion of the U-20 World Cup, hung up her boots a year and a half ago, unable to manage the anxiety that comes with being a professional. She did not want to know anything about the ball, but now she has found the motivation to get excited again on a court as a player of the El Barrio team, chaired by the tiktoker Adri Contreras. "In Queens I'm not forced to go every day to train or be up and down every weekend. I only have to meet expectations on Saturdays when there are games and I can manage the rest. Returning to football in this format is much more relaxed. The only thing I look for is to have fun and have fun playing. I have no intention of returning to football," explains the Bronze Boot at the 17 U-2018 World Cup.
🔥 @IreneLR10 and @aromero7willy will be the 11th and 12th player respectively for the @elbarrioklk_ in the #QueensLeague!
• Both are former professional footballers and will seek to revalidate the successes achieved by Adrián Contreras' team in the @KingsLeague. pic.twitter.com/Ux4mKO4Qmm
— Queens League (@QueensLeague_) April 13, 2023
Lopez also has no plans to open a channel and become a content creator, but admires the impact the tournament is having. "The production that the league carries is incredible. It is quite far from the Spanish Federation and the League. I find it a very shocking phenomenon." As a connoisseur of traditional football, Lopez points out that the Queens League has a lot to teach the professional categories. "Professional football is much more mentally loaded. The Queens is more focused on the enjoyment of the players and the public. They have been very clever [Kosmos] because it is very easy to watch the games and their diffusion is much greater than the professional league. I wonder what it would be like if all this production was also had by the professional leagues. At the media level, the league is poor."
From Kosmos they highlight the brutal growth of the project in just a few months. In addition to a coaching staff, each Queens League team has an 'ambassador', an elite player such as the Spanish internationals, Sandra Paños or Jenni Hermoso who will be part of the staff and could even play a match. The objective of the organization is that the women's competition not only has the same diffusion as the men's, but that it has the same importance at the sporting level, rewarding the teams that succeed in their male and female sections together, something unthinkable in any other sport. All competing together. "As it should be," says López.
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