From a 7-a-side soccer league to a world-renowned competition that moves millions of euros. In just over a year, the Kings League has managed to break all kinds of audience records on Twitch and has finished a goal base with all those who questioned this amateur competition. The question is, how much money does Gerard Pique earn? The architect of all this, who allied himself with Ibai Llanos and other content creators such as DjMaRiio or Gerard Romero, and former soccer players such as Casillas or Kun Agüero, does not stop billing.
This July 29, the Estadio Metropolitano, the home of Atlético de Madrid, will host the ‘final four’ (semi-finals and final) of the second ‘split’ of the Kings League. In addition, we will also know the first team to win the women’s competition, the Queens League. Tickets cost between 23 and 95 euros. The event will go far beyond a few ‘pachangas’ and will be even more impressive than the one held in March at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. In the purest American style and as happened a few days ago in La Velada del Año III, there will be stunts on Red Bull motorcycles, a cockfight and performances by world-renowned artists such as Nicki Nicole and Manuel Turizo, among others.
How does the Kings League of Pique make money?
Only on the day of the first final of the competition, according to published data, Gerard Piqué’s business had a turnover of more than 20 million euros. The former soccer player landed at the Camp Nou by helicopter. It was not be for lowerly. More than 16 million euros came from more than the views of the matches on Twitch and new followers. More than 3 million, of the tickets to the Camp Nou, and the rest of the reproductions of YouTube. On social networks like TikTok, it finds no rival among the main European leagues. Win by a landslide.
To this should be added the sale of merchandising, whose figures are not disclosed by the competition, although they are estimated at another 3 million euros. At the official Atleti store in the Metropolitan, the colors of Porcinos, El Barrio, Annihiladores and xBuyer Team are already on display. Also from Porcinas, xBuyer Team, Las Troncas and PIO. They are the male and female finalists of the competition and during these days they will sell more than the rojiblanco team.
It is increasingly common to see people wearing Kings League shirts on the street, especially in Barcelona, the venue for the competition. And that the prices are at the level of the official kits of the LaLiga teams: 125 euros for the jackets, 75 euros for the match shirts and 65 euros for the sweatshirts. It doesn’t stop there, because the merchandising is up to the response of the fans and they also sell backpacks and polo shirts for 40 euros, training shirts and sunglasses for 30 euros or caps for 20 euros. The cheapest are the socks, 15 euros. Many of these products are out of stock in the Kings League online store. In addition, they have an agreement with the casa de las carcasas and sell, from 13 euros, mobile phone covers with the shields and colors of the teams.
In addition to this, what surrounds the Kings League finals is the closest thing to a US sporting event, such as an NBA or MBL baseball game. In the first edition there was popcorn, children’s menus, soft drinks and all kinds of snacks to avoid going hungry while enjoying the competition. Something that will surely be repeated in the Metropolitan.
Mediaset, Infojobs and advertising, other sources of income
Given the success of the Kings League on Twitch, he reached an agreement to broadcast the best game of each day through Cuatro. A total of 12 meetings for a figure close to a million euros. However, it has not been as successful as expected, making it clear that it is a competition aimed at a younger audience and with a strong presence on social networks. A fiasco. The hearings indicate that the competition barely brought together 137,000 people on the last day, far from the data from the streaming application.
The Kings League is also invested in by a multitude of companies that advertise at matches, many more at the finals. In addition, the advertising of the t-shirts generates income. And of course, the great sponsor of the competition, InfoJobs.
The controversy with the salary of the players
The competition has only suffered a reputation crisis during these first two seasons. Thousands of people mobilized on social networks to demand a raise for the players when it was learned that they were charging 75 euros per game. At the end of the first season, Piqué took the microphone at the Camp Nou and in front of more than 90,000 people he announced a salary increase for all of them.
Recently, at the beginning of July, this increase has become a reality. However, the players have not been completely satisfied, since Piqué is going to demand exclusivity from them from September, when many combine it with his clubs, also amateurs.
As of the third split, the players will no longer be paid per game, but with an annual salary. But the amounts do not reach them to live, so they have to combine it with other work. The amounts range from 2,500 to 7,500 euros per year. The Kings League is going to invest a total of 2 million euros to pay salaries. The controversy will continue.
How has Piqué fared with business, his fortune?
The Kings League is already Piqué’s most successful business adventure on a brand level and who knows if also on an economic level. Because it is true that of all the money it generates, a large part goes to the organization itself, the rest of the presidents and other events. It must be remembered that he pocketed 24 million as an intermediary to carry out the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, but then his reputation was quite affected by a possible conflict of interest, since what was his club at the time, Barcelona, he participated in the negotiation. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office investigates the alleged irregularities in the framework of Rubiales’ management.
Piqué’s relationship with business and sport is undeniable, since he currently chairs Andorra, a team from the Spanish second division. Through his company Kosmos, he runs an eSports team, the KOI, and has organized the Davis Cup for 5 years, although he has broken the contract to which he will still have 20 more emotions due to the fact that he did not give economic results, nor did he repudiate it was sportingly like competition.
Nor was he very successful in his beginnings with Kerad Games, a video game company that closed in 2018 after throwing more than two million euros in losses. In addition to this, he is involved in other projects such as Kypers, a sunglasses firm, or 426 Miles, an isotonic drink brand, together with Carles Puyol.
