SlamBall is officially bouncing back.
The alternative sport — which combined elements of basketball, American football, ice hockey, and trampolines — has closed an $11 million Series A round led by Roger Ehrenberg’s IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital as well as strategic investors across sports, gaming, entertainment, and media.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back, and especially by popular demand,” said Mason Gordon, CEO and co-founder of SlamBall. “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 will relaunch with a six-week season this July in Las Vegas followed by a seventh playoff week. Domestic and international touring stops will follow. Talks are currently underway for distribution, while a docuseries about the league is in development via Mike Tollin‘s MSM. Tollin and Gordon previously collaborated on the original iteration of SlamBall, while Tollin also recently executive produced the hit docuseries “The Last Dance.”
Further details about teams, schedules and tickets will be announced in the coming months.
“It’s rare to have the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of a ‘new’ sports league with millions of fans already roaring their support from the virtual stadiums of social media,” said lead investor Roger Ehrenberg. “We believe the quick format, memorable moments and spectacular gameplay SlamBall makes possible is tailor made for today’s fans. We’re going to create an unforgettable experience for both old and new fans that showcases the speed, athleticism and excitement of SlamBall.”
SlamBall was invented by Gordon in 1999. He was working for Tollin at the time, with Tollin financing construction of a prototype SlamBall court. The sport previously aired on The National Network, which was later rebranded as Spike TV.
Gordon and Tollin launched the professional league back in 2002 in a warehouse using old gymnastics equipment and rules that remained a work in progress. Tom Penn (co-founder of LAFC) joined the ownership group last year.
The game most resembles basketball with a starting “bounce off” at center court. However, it allows blocks and collisions like football, permits unlimited substitutions like hockey and is played on a court with four rectangular trampolines at each end to that extend play up to eighteen feet in the air. Each team has four players on the court, and games are 20 minutes divided into five-minute quarters.
Strategic investors include David Blitzer (Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Cleveland Guardians, Crystal Palace), David Adelman (76ers, NJ Devils), Michael Rubin (Fanatics), Gary Vaynerchuk (VaynerX, Major League Pickleball) and Boston Celtics power forward and 6-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin, as well as Kevin Nagel (Sacramento Kings), Lloyd Danzig (Sharp Alpha), Legends Growth Enterprises, Brian Lovell (Red Games), Jesse Sharf (Gibson, Dunn), Accelerate Sports and Eric Manlunas (Wavemaker Partners). Accelerate Sports provided investment banking services for the round.
Tollin and MSM are repped by UTA, while UTA previously made a significant investment in Rich Paul’s KLUTCH Sports Group.
