The World Gaming League (GGL), a worldwide gaming leisure and media firm, has raised $10 million to kick off its gaming battles amongst celebrity-owned groups.
GGL was based by Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum music producer and entrepreneur Clinton Sparks, in partnership with music icon T-Ache and tech entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman (Priceline, UBid, Reserving.com). In his music profession, Sparks produced data that offered greater than 80 million copies.
Now Sparks mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that he’s centered on the intersection of leisure and gaming. The World Gaming League is a primary of its form multi-title gaming league with celebrity-owned groups made up of 4 gamers every – excessive profile influencers, actors, athletes, artists, informal {and professional} players – who compete in stay occasions taking part in all the pieces from first individual shooter, sports activities titles and combating video games to the newest releases and retro favorites.
Greater than esports
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 14: T-Ache (L) and Clinton Sparks converse on stage as The Pack Drumline pose through the World Gaming League official launch occasion at World Gaming League New Las Vegas Headquarters on December 14, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Photos for The World Gaming League )
The GGL is just not an esports league – it’s a gaming leisure league that brings collectively each fashion of play and each sort of participant. It’s multigenerational, multicultural, and converges gaming, music, sports activities, style, superstar, competitors and tradition.
“I needed celebrities to be concerned as a result of I’ve created a brand new mannequin that provides the expertise the status of proudly owning a sports activities franchise with out that headache,” Sparks mentioned. “The celebrities don’t have to fret about managing, staffing, recruiting, gross sales, merchandising, any of that stuff. That’s as a result of we’re their companions and we’re their complete again workplace, the World Gaming League. They usually don’t have any monetary danger.”
He mentioned the businesses don’t want the celebrities to speculate, however GGL owns every workforce with every superstar 50-50.
“That’s why all of the celebrities getting concerned are actually thrilling. And that’s as a result of folks need to have fairness. They need a partnership. Most manufacturers need to pay a star a test to spend their life simply to assist amplify their model,” Sparks mentioned. “However as a result of I’ve been so concerned with celebrities and expertise for therefore lengthy, I do know folks don’t need that. They need to have possession. They need to have a significant connection to the factor that they’re going to be part of, particularly if they will simply blow it up.”
Solyco Capital led the SAFE spherical, whereas th relaxation are particular person strategic buyers, Sparks mentioned.
“There are over three billion players around the globe,” mentioned Sparks. “However there’s nonetheless no centralized platform that provides on a regular basis gamers the highlight—whereas authentically connecting manufacturers, celebrities, and competitors in a method that’s really entertaining. That’s the place GGL is available in. Think about the power of the Tremendous Bowl, the fandom of Comedian-Con, and the tradition of ComplexCon and Coachella.”
Sparks added, “There’s presently no place for buyers to have any significant return on a gaming funding, manufacturers to constantly get an ROI with gaming, publishers to develop their IP to new audiences, celebrities to have an genuine footprint in gaming and nothing arrange for all players to construct a profession as a gamer, and have an opportunity to be acknowledged globally as true athletes. Till now.”
Dwell competitions in an area the place celebrity-owned groups conflict
The World Gaming League will characteristic celebrity-owned groups engaged in grudge matches.
Sparks mentioned esports and celebrities haven’t combined properly previously resulting from an absence of authenticity.
“Up to now, each time something gaming-related had a connection, any sort of involvement with celebrities, they’re usually did a one-off occasion,” Sparks mentioned. “It’s not sustainable, it’s not scalable, it’s not changing their followers into gaming.”
In contrast, he mentioned GGL converges gaming with music, sports activities, style, superstar, competitors, and tradition.
“Once you carry all these celebrities, whether or not they’re actors, athletes, musicians, rappers or influencers, you’re bringing their viewers as a result of they’re taking part in in opposition to one another,” Sparks mentioned. “It’s nearly like Superstar Household Feud. However it’s extra attention-grabbing. You’re coming for the competitors, you’re coming for the journey, you’re coming for the rivalry, you’re coming for the superstar efficiency. There’s so many extra the explanation why you’ll now come and have interaction.”
The GGL held its first occasion to do a proof of idea on the HyperX Area in Las Vegas. However then the corporate determined to construct its personal aggressive area close to the Las Vegas airport. The corporate began final yr and it has eight folks.
The GGL’s matches will happen on the campus and area in Las Vegas. GGL’s studio facility The Campus powered by Vū, is ready to raise town’s reference to the video gaming group. Sparks mentioned it’s the most technologically superior studio within the space, boasting the most important wrap-around digital display within the Western U.S. (second solely to Sphere) and 43,000 sq. toes of house with all the pieces for Hollywood-level movie and tv manufacturing and VIP occasions of all types.
Beginning groups
The GGL is kicking off quickly.
Sparks mentioned GGL delivers unforgettable experiences, high-impact sponsorship moments, and a brand new leisure format the place the viewers is simply as necessary because the motion.
“Everyone video games,” mentioned T-Ache, GGL director of technique and workforce proprietor, in a press release. “67% of individuals between the ages of 5 and 90 recreation in some kind—in actual fact, extra folks watch video gaming than any sport (in need of the NFL). 46% of players are feminine, schools give scholarships for gaming now. and the common gamer is 36 years outdated, regardless of most pondering it’s just for children. Gaming is a quicker, cheaper and safer path to success than conventional sports activities.”
The World Gaming League is offering actual alternative for players around the globe to be drafted and earn a wage as a participant on a star owned workforce by means of the worldwide nomination submission course of the place players can go browsing to globalgamingleague.com and join. Since asserting this, the league has over 1 / 4 of one million entries to play for one of many celebrity-owned groups.
The primary workforce house owners to be revealed embody:
● T-Ache – Grammy-winning artist and beloved voice in gaming tradition
● Bryce Corridor – Tik-Tok star, Naked Knuckle brawler and digital entrepreneur
● Taste Flav – Hip hop legend, actuality present icon, and official host of the 2024 Olympics.
GGL will probably be asserting extra workforce house owners within the coming weeks pulling from music, movie, sports activities, style, social media and gaming.
Sport time is the brand new prime time
Gaming is projected to surpass $300 billion by 2026—outpacing TV, movie, and music mixed. However it’s not simply the income—it’s the eye. In contrast to conventional media, the place viewers are distracted, multitasking, or skipping adverts, gaming instructions full focus. There’s no second display. No passive scrolling. Simply hundreds of thousands of absolutely immersed followers, locked in and actively engaged.
For manufacturers, this isn’t only a new channel—it’s a brand new sort of shopper. One who’s not simply watching, however collaborating. One who’s emotionally invested within the second and large open to genuine model experiences that improve gameplay reasonably than interrupt it. That is the place promoting stops feeling like an advert—and begins turning into a part of the story.
“Gaming is a blue ocean alternative for manufacturers, buyers, and new enterprise. Avid gamers spend 30% extra on retail than non-gamers and that quantity goes up in key classes like cars, journey and expertise,” mentioned John Garcia, managing accomplice of Solyco Capital, in a press release. “Avid gamers don’t simply play—they affect. At present’s gamer spans generations and life. They watch, purchase, and transfer tradition. Once I met Clinton Sparks and listened to his imaginative and prescient, I knew this wasn’t simply one other enterprise thought—it’s a key future in media.”
Greater than a league: a launchpad for expertise, training, and alternative
The GGL goals to floor new gaming expertise.
The launch additionally consists of the GGL Academy—a first-of-its-kind initiative centered on empowering development by means of gaming training, profession pathways, and scholarship alternatives. The Academy is constructed to coach, mentor, and join aspiring players, creators, and professionals to real-world roles throughout the gaming, leisure, and tech industries.
“What actually will get me excited is the connecting of cultures, the constructing the nationwide bridges and uplifting underserved communities,” Sparks mentioned.
Strategic partnerships with NYU, UNLV, and Syracuse are already underway, constructing a direct pipeline from the classroom to the world. With 74% of Gen Z expressing curiosity in careers in gaming or digital media, GGL is creating the infrastructure to fulfill that demand—particularly in underserved communities the place entry to alternative has been traditionally restricted.
“I got here out of retirement for this,” mentioned Jeff Hoffman, GGL chairman, in a press release. “As a result of this isn’t nearly gaming—it’s about entry. GGL has the facility to attach cultures, construct worldwide bridges, uplift underserved communities and shut age gaps. And it’s not simply significant—it’s good enterprise. We’re constructing a platform that may monetize at scale whereas making a constructive impression. That’s uncommon, and that’s why I’m all in.”
Sparks added, “The World Gaming League is positioned to make gaming a family identify in the identical method that the WWE did with wrestling and the UFC did with combined martial arts, by systemizing and democratizing an trade that already exists with billions of customers and a whole lot of billions already being generated. Get accustomed to the World Gaming League.”
Origins
Sparks began out as a DJ and report producer in Boston. He made bootleg remixes and mixtapes and hosted radio reveals similar to SmashTime Radio. In 2012, he was nominated for a Grammy for his manufacturing work on Woman Gaga’s Born This Means album. He wrote and produced songs for the likes of Akon, Ludacris, 2 Chainz, Huge Sean and extra.
In gaming, his hip-hop music was utilized in DJ Hero 2, and he did voice performing in Scarface: The World is Yours and Saints Row: The Third. In esports, he held enterprise improvement positions at esports and way of life agency FaZe Clan and XSET.
“I’ve been a gamer my complete life. I didn’t know something about esports, as most individuals didn’t and nonetheless don’t. And I helped practice a bunch of in style children that had hundreds of thousands of followers however had no enterprise mannequin, no income drivers,” he mentioned. “I’ve been shaping tradition for over 20 years and constructing cultural impression and types which might be nonetheless related in the present day. Once I bought into the gaming house, I noticed it’s the quickest rising leisure on this planet. However it was actually disconnected from mainstream popular culture and celebrities, regardless that all of us play.”
Sparks mentioned that he noticed lots of people lose cash in esports, which grew shortly however then crashed, shedding buyers some huge cash.
“All the largest manufacturers on this planet needed to play with the informal players. The publishers needed to develop their IP and develop their communities. The players needed to be checked out as actual athletes, and never all celebrities. Everyone I do know, from Snoop Dogg to Vinny, T-pain to the Jonas Brothers, to Michelle Rodriguez and Terry Crews — all people video games. However there’s no method for them having a constructive, social, and significant connections to gaming. In order that’s how I got here up with the World Gaming League.”
He mentioned he contemplated how buyers can get a return, the place manufacturers can get an ROI, the place publishers can join with new audiences, the place players will be legitimized, and the place celebrities can compete with one another and develop a brand new enterprise that they will personal.
“In order that’s what I created, the World Gaming League, which is a league of celebrity-only groups that compete in stay occasions in Las Vegas, taking part in new video games from Name of Responsibility and Rocket League to outdated video games like Pac-man and Donkey Kong,” Sparks mentioned.
He mentioned it can have the construction of conventional sports activities leagues just like the NFL, the pageantry, theatrics, storylines, and smack speaking like WWE.
“And very like UFC, you’ll see two folks competing that you simply in any other case would by no means see compete elsewhere,” Sparks mentioned. “Right here is the place you’d see celebrities compete with their four-player groups in opposition to one another. However not like the NFL, which is one sport, one season, one area, that is all sports activities, which means all recreation titles, all yr, and it’s really world, from India to Asia, to Center East, North America, South America, Europe. It’s the fastest-growing type of leisure on this planet.”
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