Overtime Elite’s Basketball League has added a new avenue for young athletes to make their dream of playing professional sports come true. It was established in Atlanta, Georgia by CEO and Co-founder Dan Porter. He created the league in 2021 to cater to the new generation of fans and change the sports community. In 2022, he hired former NBA player Damien Wilkins as General Manager and Head of Basketball because of his acumen for the sport. Now two years later, the league is a massive success with no sign of slowing down.
Numerous companies recognized the potential early and endorsed the league. By the end of 2023, Gatorade, State Farm, and Adidas were sponsors. They also signed a deal with Amazon Prime Video where they released a documentary about the league on the popular streaming service.
They gained over $250 million from their sponsorships, licensing, media rights, and e-commerce. According to Bloomberg.com, Overtime is now worth over $500 million and is increasing in revenue yearly. NBA superstars like Kevin Durant and Trae Young have also invested funds into the company to support the next generation of prospects.
Multiple NBA players have walked through the halls of the Overtime Elite arena. Just recently, OTE Alumni Alex Sarr and Rob Dillingham were selected in the top 10 of the 2024 NBA draft. The league’s next season is set to begin soon, and it will feature an extremely stacked OTE draft class. Multiple highly touted prospects such as Jasper Johnson, Taylen Kinney, Bryson Tiller, Meleek Thomas, Amari Evans, and Moustapha Diop will grace the floor this season.
All these players have drawn interest or have already committed to division-1 basketball programs for the 2025-2026 school year. Overtime Elite is slowly turning into the premier league for the best basketball players 16 to 24 years of age, and this was Porter’s goal since its inception. As more top recruits join the league, it will perpetuate a cycle of highly evaluated professional athletes into the OTE draft every year.
Overtime’s notoriety has reached overseas, which has attracted international prospects to leave their home countries to pursue their hoop dreams. Chinese guard, Wei Zhao, decided to join Overtime Elite this season after a stellar performance in the FIBA U19 tournament last summer. He was selected in the first round of the OTE draft by the Cold Hearts, who also drafted shooting guard Diamant Blazi from France. Both signings were massive for the league’s international demographic because it signifies the global impact and influence that Overtime is having on this generation of basketball players.
New fans are discovering Overtime every day and it will become a staple of the global basketball community as time goes on. It will be interesting to see what other business ventures Porter will partake in to expand the league. It has already changed the lives of many athletes since players are compensated financially because of their world-class talent. Players are also media-trained throughout the season as they prepare for a lifelong career in basketball. Preseason begins on September 25th and it looks like the 2024-25 season will be another massive success for Overtime Elite.
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