SlamBall Relaunches on ESPN with Eight Franchises, Las Vegas Opening Night

SlamBall relaunched as a professionally run league with an ESPN-backed broadcast window and an eight-franchise lineup that opened on ESPN at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. The relaunch combined legacy brands with fresh franchises and a compact, TV-friendly season format designed to deliver high-energy, highlight-driven content.

The league secured an exclusive two-year ESPN partnership announced June 21, 2023 that committed more than 30 hours across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+. Opening night took place July 21, 2023 at Cox Pavilion, and the league staged games at Las Vegas venues including Thomas & Mack Center and Michelob ULTRA Arena through 2023–2025. Financial backing included an $11 million Series A round tied to the relaunch announcement made on the 20th anniversary of SlamBall’s first televised game.

SlamBall’s in-game rules emphasize vertical play and constant action. Teams play 4-on-4 on a 96-foot by 64-foot court enclosed in 8-foot plexiglass walls with four springbeds per end - three standard 7-by-14-foot trampolines and a larger 10-by-14-foot scoring bed - plus a central island platform. Matches run four five-minute quarters on a running clock that stops only in the final minute of the fourth quarter, and overtime is decided by face-offs. The league billed the product as “the fast-paced, gravity-defying sport that combines elements of basketball, football, hockey and trampolines.”

Competition unfolded as a compressed, tournament-style season. The relaunch used a four-week regular season with Thu–Sun nights and session mini-tournaments in which winning teams earned extra games. “In SlamBall, you win the chance to win more,” Gordon said, explaining why winners could play uneven totals; Gordon added that “Our better teams play more games.”

Rosters and personnel blended SlamBall veterans with new athletic pipelines. A draft distributed 56 players across eight teams, each holding seven-man rosters and fielding four players at a time. PRLog reported 68 percent of draftees came from basketball, while Sports Yahoo listed 34 players with college basketball backgrounds, 12 from college football and five from track. Average ages were reported at 26.9 years by PRLog and about 26 by Sports Yahoo, with Sports Yahoo noting an average height of 6-foot-4. Notable roster entries include Slashers’ Tony Crosby II, listed at 5-foot-6 and promoted as an international slam dunk champion who claims a 52-inch vertical, and Ozone’s Vincent Boumann at 6-foot-9. The Slamballleague roster excerpts provide per-player details such as Adam Stanford, handler, 6-foot-4, and Keith McGee, handler, 6-foot-3.

Coaching rosters tied the relaunch to SlamBall history. Legacy figures reappeared, including Ken Carter coaching the Rumble and Stan Fletcher leading the Slashers, alongside coaches listed for Mob, Buzzsaw, Wrath, Lava and others. On-court results showed Mob dominating the relaunch regular season, finishing 16-0 with 985 points for and 533 points against and qualifying for a semifinal bye, and Mob is listed among historical champions.

The business case is clear: TV exposure, a spectacle-first rule set and a compact schedule make SlamBall an attractive property for broadcast highlights and social clips. Challenges remain, including salary transparency and international recruitment; China-trained players were unable to secure visas in time for 2023, but the league plans to broaden its talent pool. For fans, the relaunch restores a gravity-defying alternative to mainstream hoops and sets SlamBall up to test whether high-flying spectacle can translate into sustainable viewership and commercial growth.