'Ballers' Series Finale: How to Watch, What Time and What Channel

HBO will close the curtain on the Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson sports comedy Ballers on Sunday after [...]

By Andrew Roberts

HBO will close the curtain on the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sports comedy Ballers on Sunday after five seasons. The former WWE superstar announced the end of the show's run at the start of the season and shared a deeply personal note on Instagram to mark the finale on Saturday.

The finale will drop in the middle of a busy night on HBO, following the finale to Succession and The Righteous Gemstones and before the latest Last Week Tonight. The show gets underway at 11:00 p.m. ET on HBO and will repeat at 2 a.m. ET.

If you're lacking a cable subscription or access to HBO on television, HBO Now will begin streaming the episode at its televised premiere time and leave it for on-demand viewing after.

The episode, titled "Players Only" sees Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) continue to battle for his clients and the other players in the league. Joe (Rob Corddry) is meanwhile set on exploring his new state of mind, Ricky (John David Washington) is looking to get a start on his own and Julie (Jazmyn Simon) pushes Charles (Omar Benson Miller) to handle some lingering unfinished business as the series comes to a close.

For a show that started as a spiritual successor to Entourage with a sports focus, it has evolved over five seasons to tackle some of the toughest issues affecting the sports world today.

As IndieWire points out, Johnson's character has serious medical issues, including fertility issues. He's also struck with grief over permanently injuring a former player, gets hooked on pain meds and juggles it all with his position.

Later the show would hit on CTE issues and the growing concerns over the future of the NFL. Then season 3 would feature Johnson's character attempting to put an NFL team in Las Vegas, shining light on the affect sports teams have on cities and the pitfalls of team ownership in the modern age. And in season 5, race, wealth and power play the big role through the league, with Spencer wanting to purchase an NFL team and become the first black owner in NFL history according to IndieWire.

It's also a fitting time for the series to come to a close for superfan Elizabeth Warren. With the end of the show, she can focus on her campaign and not worry about the next dramatic or comedic event The Rock and his team get into. She did praise the show in a recent chat with Entertainment Weekly.

"It's been a great five-year story. A big part of that is Spencer's story. He starts out as this guy who has no job, no license, not clear what his future is, but he has enormous determination, and he just keeps banging into whatever obstacle is in his way. It's like watching a football game, only not on the football field anymore. And now he owns a team!" Warren told the outlet.

Don't miss the finale airing later on Sunday!

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