Slamball

SLAMBALL was invented by Mason Gordan. He wanted it to fulfill the needs of a fully realized sport that was inspired by the strategies, aesthetics and pacing of video games. “A sport where the athletes fly higher and hit harder, performing feats that were once the exclusive domain of the well-crafted pixel.” The first court was a small warehouse in Los Angeles on a makeshift court cobbled together from spare parts. Slamball would quickly fulfill its promise as a mash-up sport smashed together, as the court was, from parts of basketball, football, hockey and gymnastics.
Upon developing the concept, he approached Mike Tollin, a TV and film producer of Smallville, Wild Hogs, and Coach Carter fame. After giving it some thought, he agreed to help Gordon. Many different ideas and concepts encompassing everything from court construction to team strategies were considered. Gordon then tried to convince street basketball players to test his new idea. He wanted to find skilled, strong players who could compete comfortably while launching off trampolines and crashing into each other 15 feet above the ground. The first five players were James Willis, Sean Jackson, David Redmond, Michael Goldman and Jeff Sheridan. Soon after that two teams were formed and a full sized court was created in east LA. Early into the evolution of Slamball they got an offer to make it into a professional game like wrestling with scripts and actors but this is not what Gordon wanted.

In 2002, SlamBall made its television debut, on The National Network (now Spike TV), soon after former Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce had signed on as a partner. Six teams (the Bouncers, Diablos, Mob, Rumble, Slashers, and Steal) played in the inaugural season. SlamBall also aired on the British television station Trouble and ESPN aired a feature on the new league.

Prior to the launch of the second season more than 20,000 online applications were submitted by potential players. Before the second season of SlamBall debuted on the newly-renamed Spike TV, two expansion teams (the Riders and Bandits) were added and a new court was built at Universal City, California.

In 2007, the "POWERade SlamBall Challenge" took place at Hoop City, a fan interactive event, at the 2007 Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia, and aired on CSTV in April 2007.

In Italy SlamBall made its debut on Italia 1 on July 16, 2007 gaining impressive ratings and media fervor. Plans for a new season are in motion with an International model as the basis for the new league structure.

In 2008, SlamBall began planning for a new season, to be financed by IMG. The league accepted applications through its website for new players and coaches, and tryouts were held in the U.S. A training camp for the 2008 season of SlamBall was held at IMG Academiesin Bradenton, Florida from April to June 2008. Over 100 potential players participated in tryouts, eventually leaving 64 players after an 8-team draft. The league was cut to the 6 current teams.

Rules of the Game:
Close to basketball rules
Full contact is allowed until back foot in the air.
Dunk = 3 points
3-pointer = 3 points
Other = 2
4-on 4
Start the game with a face-of
2 offensive players cannot land in the same tramp

A game that has changed from a small warehouse court made form spare parts to a worldwide fantast with many disciples
Watch it on Fuel TV on Tuesdays. 11:30 am &Sunday 6:00pm



Ben Grossberg