The second episode of Season 5 of HBO’s “BALLERS” followed the emerging sale of the Chiefs, valuing the team at $3B. An NFL exec urges Spencer Strasmore, played by DWAYNE JOHNSON, to secure funding for a bid, as there are other parties interested. Strasmore meets with two business partners, who initially balk at the seemingly high price tag, pointing out that there is a “strike looming” and that buying a team before a new CBA would be “risky.” Strasmore makes the case that there is “money to be made” because the league is pushing to expand the regular season to 18 games. Strasmore later asks the NFL exec to become team president should he buy the Chiefs, but she declines because she is being promoted to No. 2 at the league office for her efforts convincing Strasmore to buy the franchise.
PLAYER HAPPENINGS: A security guard gives fictional Rams GM Charles Greane, played by OMAR BENSON MILLER, a video of one of his players at the site of a shooting. Greane is assured that the league office is unaware of the video, and then confronts the player but doesn’t cut or discipline him. He later locks the USB drive containing the video file away in his office. Meanwhile, esports was once again a plot line of the show, with fictional Cowboys DT Vernon Littlefield, played by DONOVAN CARTER, broaching the idea of becoming a “two-sport athlete.” He plays a game of League of Legends against a fictional 15-year-old gamer, and when his manager is still not sold on the esports idea, Littlefield threatens to fire him.
CAMEO CENTRAL: Browns WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. made a cameo as himself, being pitched on the idea of being the face of a new sports, art and fashion campus created by SportsX Founder Lance Klians, played by RUSSELL BRAND, and Joe Krutel, played by ROB CORDDRY. Beckham says he has ideas to contribute and agrees to a partnership.
