How High Profile Execs Are Transcending Esports with the Global Gaming League

Sophie Hessekiel | Jan 23, 2025

Global Gaming League Owners Clinton Sparks and T-Pain / Getty

You might not have heard of the Global Gaming League yet, but the new venture, a multi-title gaming entertainment league, has some serious star power behind it. Out of the 10 four-player teams, several are owned by celebrities, including Nick Cannon, Bryce Hall, Flava Flav, and T-Pain.

Founded by renowned disruptor and entertainment mogul, Clinton Sparks, The GGL is a gaming entertainment league where gaming, fashion, music, sports, celebrity, and culture converge, bringing the video game lifestyle and culture to the masses, while providing an unparalleled live, in-person and virtual interactive and engaging sporting entertainment experience for all ages.

Teams play both new video games (Call of Duty, Rocket League, etc) and retro video games (Pac-man, Donkey Kong), and everything in between, such as Street Fighter, Golden Tee Golf, Mario Kart, and Tetris, to name a few.

T-Pain, known as an established gaming enthusiast for decades who has said he makes thousands per day gaming, is not only a team owner, but he is also the executive director of strategy and board member for the league.

“The GGL will make gaming a household name like the WWE did for wrestling, and UFC did for mixed martial arts. It’s the fastest growing form of entertainment in the world, and we all game, yet, it’s completely disconnected from mainstream, pop-culture, and the streets. This is what The Global Gaming League is going to change.” adds T-Pain.

Clinton Sparks, the founder of the league, told SI, “Gaming is the fastest growing form of entertainment in the world and generates more revenue than the movie and music industries combined.”

An additional goal of the league, according to Sparks, is to create opportunities for more people to engage with gaming. “We created a model that will connect cultures, build international bridges, uplift underserved communities, and close age gaps,” he said. “The GGL will engage and introduce communities and cultures that are not aware of the viable careers, opportunities and possibilities that gaming provides. Much like sports and music has been looked at as a path to a better life, especially for those of us from less privileged communities, gaming is a third vertical that almost no one is talking about publicly or even knows about, generating hundreds of billions of dollars."

The Global Gaming League, founded by Clinton Sparks, and along with partners T-Pain and Jeff Hoffman, states “Esports, which is the current form of organized gaming is reserved for the hardcore, endemic gamer who grinds 8-15 hours a day hoping to be drafted to an esports organization that hopefully gets selected to be in a closed league that costs millions of dollars to participate in. Our goal is to create accessibility and appeal to the masses, provide opportunities and possibilities that do not currently exist for gamers, and to remove the stigma around gaming being a ‘waste of time,' or 'only for young kids.'”

GGL Chairman of the Board Jeff Hoffman notes, “Gaming is much bigger and more valuable than most people know. Schools now have scholarships for gamers, it helps with critical thinking, strategy, problem solving, the future engineers are gamers, and studies show that gaming helps with depression and focus. We put our kids in football and baseball and hope that after 15 years of dribbling a basketball they will go pro in that sport, but less than 2% of athletes ever go pro. Gaming is faster, less expensive, and a safer sport that can be played at any age.” In service of this goal, the league provides opportunity to gamers in underserved communities by giving them the chance to join the league via the GGLs global nomination submission process. Gamers from Tokyo, Thailand, Toronto, to Nigeria, Boston and Brazil or anywhere else can log onto globalgamingleague.com and submit themselves or someone they choose to be considered to join one of the celebrity owned teams.

The GGL is a combination of the professionalism and structure like traditional sports leagues, the pageantry, theatrics, and storylines similar to the WWE, mixed with the unique rivalry and competitiveness like the UFC.

The Global Gaming League is strategically entering the market at a time where the conversation about gaming is more relevant than ever, and they are providing a platform to bridge the gap to the mainstream.

— Enjoy free dish of rich and fabulous players with The Athlete Lifestyle on SI —

Buffalo queen: Hailee Steinfeld rocks custom Josh Allen jacket with Bills WAGs at game

Unreal uniform: Livvy Dunne’s LSU purple leotard sparkler is July 4th fireworks worthy

How much was it?: Carson Beck’s real Miami ‘salary’ revealed, and it’s not $4 million

No way!: 7-foot-1 Shaq looks shockingly short next to 7-foot-9 Florida freshman

Groovin’: Cameron Brink flexes goofy dance after half-court shot against WNBA legend