Big3, the 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz, has entered into an agreement with a special purpose acquisition company to take the organization public.
The deal with Graf Global Corp. values the league at $290 million pre-money, with 100% of the existing equity expected to convert to common stock of the combined company at closing. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
In an interview, Ice Cube, the professional name of O’Shea Jackson, said having the league be publicly traded would give fans a new way to benefit from its success.
As it stands now, “you can’t participate in the upside of the team besides winning,” he said. “And we need the fans for the league to be successful, so it’s a match made in heaven.”
Kwatinetz said the move “opens the pool of people who can have exposure to our league.”
Investors include John P. Angelos, whose family used to own the Baltimore Orioles; Peter Briger, executive chairman of Fortress Investment Group and minority owner of the San Francisco 49ers; Drew McKnight, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Fortress; and Ken Howery, co-founder of PayPal and Founders Fund.
Big3 has eight teams, with the league owning the franchises in Boston, Chicago, Dallas and the DMV. The remaining four — in Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit and Houston — are owned by independent investors. NBA legend Clyde Drexler serves as the organization’s commissioner.
The Houston franchise sold in 2024 for $10 million to Eric Mullins, who now runs private equity firm Lime Rock Resources, and Milton Carroll, the former chairman of CenterPoint Energy Inc.
The league’s ninth season begins on June 20 at the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Williams writes for Bloomberg.