Kings League: Innovative transformation of football in the digital age

Purpose. To identify the features of the Kings League as an innovative model of transformation of modern football in the context of digitalization. Material and Methods. The research materials were official documents, scientific publications, and information resources on the Internet. Methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, and generalization were used. Results. It was found that the Kings League has formed a new model of organizing football competitions, which combines a sports component, digital technologies, entertainment content and direct interaction with the audience. It was found that the defining characteristics of this model are an adapted format of the competition, modified rules of the game, the use of special game elements, the involvement of famous football players, media personalities and content makers, as well as the active use of digital platforms and social networks. It was found that the integration of digital tools into the structure of the football product contributes to the formation of a new model of sports content consumption, in which the fan acts not only as a passive spectator, but also as an active participant in digital interaction. This ensures the expansion of communication between athletes, organizers and the audience, increases the involvement of fans and creates additional opportunities for popularizing the football product in the digital environment. Conclusions. Kings League is an example of the transformation of modern football, within which the traditional model of sports competitions is combined with media, digital and entertainment components. The experience of Kings League demonstrates the prospects of integrating football and sports in general with digital technologies, interactive communication and modern formats of content creation and distribution. Such a model contributes to increasing audience engagement, expanding communication channels and forming new ways of consuming sports content. At the same time, the further development of such projects may lead to: transformation of approaches to the organization, popularization and commercialization of football and sports competitions in Ukraine and the World.