Commentary: The Real Genre Of ‘Ballers’ Is Business Fantasy:
by Frank Martin
A certain imagery comes to mind whenever someone hears the word “fantasy.” It invokes images of kings and magic. But at its core, fantasy is meant to describe a romanticized sense of reality, usually associated with extraordinary challenges and adventure for heroes to triumph. This can even apply to modern day life, and when looked at through this lens, even a grounded sports drama such as Ballers can be labeled under the genre of “business fantasy.”
The series followers an ex-football player Spencer Strassmore (Dwayne Johnson). After having an illustrious career, it ends rather uneventfully. He also runs into some financial trouble by making a bad real estate deal; bringing his friends along to lose everything. In order to redeem himself, Spencer seeks to become a wealth management advisor for other players and prevent them from making the same mistakes that he did. Along the way, he tries to make bigger and bigger deals such as moving a football team to Las Vegas, securing the broadcasting rights for a college football team, and outright purchasing a team in the NFL.
Even though the show is heavily involved in sports, Ballers is at its core a show about business. It involves a world of drugs, partying, women, private jets, and deals worth hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars. For business-like individuals that enjoy a fast paced lifestyle of negotiating on yachts and squeezing competitors out of the market, Ballers could absolutely be viewed as a fantasy of business the world. Not everyone gets to live that lifestyle and have the opportunity to make such world-altering deals. Audiences can live vicariously through Spencer’s rise to power, which is undoubtedly a business fantasy
Ballers is now streaming on Netflix.
