Julio Jones joins Nelly as co-owner of Atlanta Ballers in BLW

Julio Jones has become a co-owner of the Atlanta Ballers, giving Big League Wiffle Ball another marquee name as it pushes to turn a backyard game into a legitimate pro property. The Ballers’ founding group also includes Nelly, Tony Robbins and Rohit Tripathi with Inspiring Dreams, a mix of celebrity pull and business muscle built to put Atlanta on the league map.

Big League Wiffle Ball says it was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and now has 10 city-based franchises. The league calls itself America’s first professional wiffle ball league, and its 2026 season began on Sunday, June 7, with weekly Sunday game days running through August. ESPN2 and ESPN+ carry the games, and league materials also broaden the footprint with Fubo Sports Network and YouTube.

Atlanta’s franchise plays out of Assembly Studios in Atlanta, in an indoor setup that is built around 3-inning games and two Sunday sessions. The Ballers opened against the Los Angeles Naturals, a debut that immediately tied the new club to one of the league’s first matchups. By late June, the Ballers were 0-4 and had been no-hit twice, a rough start on the field even as the ownership group drew attention off it.

Jones’ arrival matters because BLW is not hiding the entertainment strategy. Other franchise owners around the league include Kevin Costner with Los Angeles, Dude Perfect with Dallas, and Gary and AJ Vaynerchuk with New York, a list that shows how aggressively the league is chasing recognition beyond the core wiffle ball crowd. Jones, who grew up in Foley, Alabama, fits that model as a former NFL star whose name carries immediate reach in Atlanta and well beyond it.

That reach is being applied to a sport with deep roots. The WIFFLE ball was invented in Shelton, Connecticut, for backyard and street play, and the brand’s history says it was designed to curve easily and be harder to hit. BLW is trying to take that familiar plastic-ball identity and repackage it for screens, Sunday slots and celebrity-backed ownership, with Atlanta now one of the clearest tests of whether the format can grow past novelty and into something with staying power.