SlamBall Announces Two-Year National Broadcast Partnership With Major Network

By Brian Jones

SlamBall is returning this summer, and the games will air on a major network. On Wednesday, SlamBall announced it has signed a two-year national broadcast partnership with ESPN for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+ will air more than 30 hours of live SlamBall programming across five weekends. The 2023 season will start on July 21 in Las Vegas and will end on August 17-19 with the SlamBall Playoffs and SlamBall Championship game. All games will be played at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. 

"ESPN's multi-year commitment to SlamBall is further validation of the enormous appeal and growth potential of our sport," SlamBall creator and CEO Mason Gordon said in a statement. "The level of interest in our hybrid team sport not just in the U.S., but across the world, has been beyond our expectations for the 2023 season. It's clear that this best talent we have had in the sport's history."  

"Mason and I couldn't help but respond to the [BringBackSlamBall] clamor," SlamBall co-founder Mike Tollin said. "Live sports dominate the airwaves these days and audiences are looking for the next big thing. It's a thrill to collaborate with ESPN in bringing this ground-breaking sport back to the world." The broadcast schedule, broadcast team and production details for the 2023 season will be announced at a later date.

SlamBall announced its return earlier this year. It recently closed an $11 million Series A round led by  Roger Ehrenberg's IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital with participation from strategic investors across sports, gaming, entertainment, and media. "It's an incredible feeling to be back, and especially by popular demand," Gordon said. "I want to thank SlamBall's persistent and passionate fans for making this comeback possible and our investors for helping make the dream real. This is a true Cinderella story–only with helmets, pads and trampolines."

SlamBall was launched originally in 1999 by Gordon and Tolin and combines the best elements of basketball, football, and hockey with a touch of a video game presence. In 2002 and 2003, SlamBall aired on the National Network which was later rebranded to Spike TV. SlamBall took a hiatus for a few years before returning in 2007 and 2008. 

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