Teens Will Make Six Figures in New Overtime Basketball League

Mike Krzyzewski is going to be furious when he reads this.

On Thursday short-form video platform “Overtime” announced it will launch a professional basketball league. The league will recruit 16-to-18 year olds willing to forfeit their remaining high school years and NCAA eligibility while keeping a path to the NBA.

Gen Z is The Key

Founded in 2016, Overtime is a “distributed video” platform that features sports content on platforms such as Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram.

The platform’s passionate and “digitally-native” audience (kids who didn’t walk uphill to school both ways), Overtime content is streamed more than 1.7 billion times per month.

The League: With a built-in audience assembled, Overtime will look to assemble a 30-person league at a yet-to-be-determined location. Here’s what the players can expect:

• “At least” $100,000 per year in salary as well as health insurance, bonuses, and equity in Overtime.
• Should players opt to pursue higher education instead of professional basketball, they’ll receive up to $100,000 towards college tuition.

Why Basketball? Polls have also suggested 13-to-24-year-olds prefer highlight-friendly basketball over other sports.

Stepping Back

Importantly for players, the league will give players the right to capitalize on their brands before they reach the 19-year-old age requirement imposed by the NBA.

the takeaway

$100k salaries and full health insurance isn’t bad. Especially considering many of the athletes won’t have driver’s licenses or car insurance to deal with.