Published On 28/11/2025
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Last update: 16:30 (Mecca time)
Former Barcelona and Spanish national team player Gerard Pique made his first appearance this week as a visiting professor at Harvard University in Boston, where he analyzed the Champions League phenomenon in a case study as part of a course in sports business management within that university’s MBA program.
Pique was invited by the director of the “Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports” course, Anita Elbers, who, in collaboration with Spanish researcher David Moreno, presented her students with a case study on the launch of the Kings League and how it could revolutionize football fans.
The former Catalan footballer completed this same course in a 4-day short course at Harvard University in 2017, also under the supervision of Professor Elbers.
“It is a great honor for the Kings League to be analyzed by such a prestigious institution as Harvard Business School,” Pique said. “This study confirms the impact of our work.”
Other prominent figures have also followed these studies, such as actress Katie Holmes and athlete Pau Gasol.
The lessons focused on how the Kings League became one of today’s most popular sports entertainment products through original social media storytelling, competition format, and close community connection.
The competition, founded by the former Barcelona player, began its competitions on January 1, 2023, and has already expanded to include men’s and women’s leagues in Spain and Mexico, in addition to men’s leagues in Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, the Middle East and North Africa, and soon in the United States.
The artificial turf sevens football competition concluded its first full year with revenues of €20 million, according to sports business finance portal Balco23.
Many students wore Barcelona shirts in the photo they took with Gerard Pique at the end of the lesson.