Ice Cube is finally putting plans in motion to sell teams included in his Big3 basketball league roster.
According to Bloomberg, in a deal worth $10 million, the 3-on-3 basketball league has sold its first team to an outside party.
Led by investment firm DCB Sports, a group has acquired the team, with Los Angeles, CA, to serve as its home city. This also launches the league’s transition from a touring league to a city-centric model. All 12 teams on the roster have been put up for sale.
“We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through,” Ice Cube said in an interview with the outlet. “It’s really about growing the sport and the league.”
Created in 2017, teams in the Big3, which include the 3 Headed Monsters, Ghost Ballers, and more, have been owned and operated by the league. Per the report, management aims to announce four new ownership groups by the start of its season, which kicks off in June.
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As it looks to leave behind the league’s touring days — once all of the teams are sold and they adopt the city-centric model — the Big3 will host games in arenas located in numerous home markets to ensure that each event has a home team.
The overall strategy is to allow teams to build their own local fanbases because, at this time, the Big3 brings in roughly 14,000 fans per weekend event and had more than 500,000 viewers on Paramount Global Inc’s CBS network during the last season.
Additionally, the 3-on-3 format will have even more eyeballs on it as athletes are set to play with that form in the Paris Summer Olympics starting in July. It had already debuted at the previous Tokyo Games, though it is played under a different set of rules internationally, under FIBA, than how Big3 plays.
“I love the fact that it’s an Olympic sport and we view it as an interesting property,” said DCB Sports Managing Partner Gary LaDrido, whose firm has also invested in horse racing, golf, and soccer teams. “Grabbing the LA market is super cool — and for Ice Cube to trust us to usher that in.”
London, England and Toronto, Canada, are at the top of the list of home cities for a Big3 team, with U.S. cities still to be announced. The league is considering expanding to 16 teams as early as 2025.
