"Ballers," which is being compared to "Entourage," has picked up an audience that was once drawn to the Hollywood epic industry series. There's good reason for that as well, according to Vulture.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as Spencer Strassmore, who is a retired defensive end for the Miami Dolphins. But his work in the NFL and sporting industry is far from over as he looks to embark on a new endeavor that keeps the cash flow coming.

Strassmore has set his sights on becoming a financial advisor to NFL stars, which takes its plays out the "Entourage" playbook and pits him beside a hot-headed star wide-receiver known as Ricky Jerret (John David Washington).

Jerret nearly screws up his gig following an incident at a nightclub where he punches someone that was talking a little smack to him. He gets cut from the Green Bay Packers and that is obviously where Strassmore has come in, to take his field and business dealings to task for him. But this may prove to be more of a challenge than he thought it would be.

The entourage fills out though with Charles Greene, who is also a retired NFL player and works for a Chevrolet dealership.

Jason and Joe (Troy Garity and Rob Corddry) are the two outsiders who play a similar role to that of Ari Gold on "Entourage." Jason is Ricky's gabby agent and Joe is Spencer's boss. Both are motor-mouthed money grabbers.

Entertainment Weekly reports that although the show was produced by "Entourage" alum Steven Levinson, it has its obvious differences.

The show is headlined by the boundless charisma of Johnson and it shows how much NFL players are actually exploited off the field by the league and the media. It also explores the chronic injuries players have to live with after they retire, which is a theme played upon in the first episode.

HBO released a sneak peek for the weeks ahead.

The video shows that many of the charactes will face personal struggles, with some feeling they have no identity without football. And the organization may possibly be closed down.

Watch the clip below.