The Gotham Ballers is a professional basketball team in New York City.
It's part of the Champions Basketball League, a brand of sports with unique programming. The 16-team professional summer basketball league begins in July of 2017, and there's a $1 million tournament in Las Vegas in September.
The league features affordable tickets ($17.50 to $45), meet and greets, and special fan-focused programming.
The team has a top-notch front office, including Walt "Clyde" Frazier as President, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe as NY General Manager, and John Wallace, Coach.
Players come exclusively from the NBA. They include Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, and Anthony Mason, Jr. As Maggie Gray from Sports Illustrated wrote, "This is an impressive list of NBA and former NBA guys."
And as Jeff Lenchiner from Inside Hoops wrote: "We're keeping a close eye on Champions Basketball League. So far, they're on the right track."
The company expects to make about $3 million in 2017
This is a high-risk investment and the valuation is steep. On the flip side, as Forbes reported, the average NBA team has gone up in value over ten-fold in the past 20 years.
The league already has a broadcast deal with ESPN.