‘Fightball’, a one on one basketball ‘event’ may change the way digital platforms and sport traditionally work as sports endeavour to reach more crowds.

If you haven’t heard of the sport, don’t be too worried as it’s still very niche, targeted at those ‘hard-to-reach millennials’ that platforms and brands outline as major hurdles. Fortunately there’s not too much to get your head around.

Featuring a significantly smaller and largely brandless black and white basketball court and an eight second shot clock, the sport is focused not only on a tougher, edgier style of basketball but the arena, the rules and the appearances are all optimised for social media platforms.

The shot clock is the ‘perfect’ amount of time for those taking video Snapchats (with the maximum video length on a Snap being 10 seconds) and the brandless court and hoops are ideal for Instagram imagery according to the founders. And despite being invite only and a word-by-mouth event, anyone can follow “Fightball” on their Snapchat – furthering the idea that it’s directly aimed at this new millennial crowd.

Bankrolled by media and entertainment venture Apex Entertainment who has worked with sport motion pictures like Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg and the Miracle starring Kurt Russell , the event is primarily one of entertainment but one in which offers US$100,000 prize money. Crowds literally crowd courtside, a DJ is playing and an MC gives a play by play.

Playing up to its role as an ‘event’ instead of just a sports fixture, the rules are a variation of the original basketball rules; a layup is one point. a dunk is three. After a player is fouled three times, they get a single shot for two points. Halves are four minutes and if the ref senses someone making things boring or wasting time, the ref can call a foul. And, in addition to the entertainment values, the players are of real quality also with either pro experience or college students.

With the Spring 2016 Championship launching last week in New York City, public curiosity about ‘Fightball’ may start to take in 2016 despite being around for a little over 18 months. This is because that there seems to not only be a demand for sports that appeal to those with a shorter attention span that go above-and-beyond traditional entertainment but that they’re developed with social media primarily in mind.

If ‘Fightball’ is any sign of what’s to come further down the track as the likes of Snapchat and Instagram grow, it won’t be surprising to see the likes of five-a-side football, rugby union, cricket take a significant turn toward social/digital media – we are already seeing shorter forms of the game developed as well as entertainment like cheerleaders and DJs.