More action, shorter matches: will the indoor arena revolutionize football?

With the “Baller League”, German football stars Mats Hummels (35) and Lukas Podolski (38) launched their own indoor football competition at the beginning of January. Twelve teams will compete against each other on eleven match days on Monday. The game is played six against six on a small field with artificial grass and each half lasts 15 minutes. In the final minutes of both halves, special rules are used to make the game even more exciting. Which rule applies is determined by a wheel of fortune. Examples of such special rules: Goals may only be scored by volley, or passes may only be forwards.

Alisha Lehmann as coach

A number of stars were brought on board to provide support. Influencers, footballers and celebrities from other areas act as ‘team managers’ and coach the league’s twelve teams. Swiss footballer Alisha Lehmann (25) is also there. The Bernese woman with more than 16 million Instagram followers is on the board of the Podolski team “Street United”. However, it is not actually professional football players who play on the field, but amateur players.

With the competition, Hummels and Podolski want to usher in a new era in football. The target group is clear: young people. They want to reach my Generation Z with their ever-shortening attention spans. No more 90 minutes of football, but everything shorter, faster and more spectacular. Tiktok on the football field.

Games are streamed

The broadcast is also aimed at young people; the matches can be viewed on the streaming platform Twitch. The commentators interact with the live chat and let the viewers actively participate in the action. Using influencers as trainers and advertising personas will also attract more young fans to the screens. If older readers of this newsletter do not understand the phenomenon of influencers, a quote from Christoph Kramer (32) will help: “You are the Thomas Gottschalk of the young people,” says the Gladbach player, who is also part of the indoor competition as a coach .

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But I don’t really like the Baller League. Even though the idea should appeal to me as a young football fan. In my opinion, this doesn’t have much to do with football anymore. In addition, the quality of the games is not really high. I prefer to watch 90 minutes of ‘real football’ at the weekend, even if nothing happens every second.

Once popular in Switzerland

But there is also another form of indoor football. The Swiss professional clubs put on their indoor shoes for a long time and thrilled the masses. According to my father, it was especially popular in the 80s and 90s. He also told me how Franz Beckenbauer thrilled Zurich’s Hallenstadion in 1983 when GC signed him specifically for the tournament.

During my lifetime there were still the indoor masters in Winterthur. When I was 10 years old in Winti with my family in 2014 and saw the (for me) legendary classification team around Bürki, Zuber, Dabbur and Caio playing in the hall, it was almost a bit surreal. But it was a successful change during the winter break and definitely worth watching. The tournament has not existed since 2017 and Swiss indoor football is dead. A revival is unlikely, but it would be great. Or are you not keen to see the Super League teams play in an indoor tournament? I would definitely choose it over the Baller League full of influencers.

Final in front of 90,000 fans

But the numbers speak for themselves; the concept has proven itself elsewhere. Last year Gerard Piqué launched his own indoor competition and enjoyed huge success in Spain. The final tournament was played in front of more than 90,000 spectators at Camp Nou. Incredible. The Baller League is also planning such a final tournament in a large stadium. And other competing products are already in the starting blocks.

But I don’t see any real competition for classic football. Because despite a number of new variants in the hall, the traditional outdoor game will never lose its luster.

Speaking of indoor football: I really enjoy playing under one roof in the winter. Every first Monday of the month, we football-loving Blick employees duel in a hall in Zurich. Would the quality also be sufficient for the Baller League? Anyway, at January’s Tschuten, Blick photographer Toto Marti and I formed a dynamic attacking duo that would also strike fear in the hearts of German influencers.