Ice Cube’s 3-On-3 Basketball League BIG3 Set To Go Public

Going Public

BIG3 will now welcome people to participate in the league’s growing success not as bystanders on the sidelines but as equity holders. The league has reportedly entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Graf Global Corp., a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company, to go public, valuing the league at $290 million, according to a press release.

It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the new entity will be named Big3 Basketball Holdings Inc. When the merger is finalized, it will be led by BIG3’s Ice Cube (CEO), Kwatinetz (chairman), Sean Bannon (president), and Clyde “the Glide” Drexler (vice commissioner).

“We are excited for BIG3 to be the first publicly traded professional sports league in the US,” Ice Cube said in the press release. “Leading a new generation of emerging sports, BIG3 connects basketball to culture, fans and our team communities. Going public is our next step. This lifts us to a bigger stage, accelerates our international potential, and gives our fans a way to grow with us, support us, and participate in our success.”

James Graf, CEO of GRAF, in the press release, commented:

“We are excited to partner with Cube, Jeff and their team to bring BIG3 to the public markets. There are few, if any opportunities for public markets investors to own equity directly in professional sports leagues or teams. We believe such investments may deliver uncorrelated returns over time, especially seeing the appreciation of team values and the growth of sports advertising across media. As a cultural icon, Cube transcends boundaries. He and Jeff have been visionaries on what audiences want, and we believe in their ability to deliver the ‘next big thing’ again as they have done repeatedly over the years. We have high hopes for where they can take BIG3 in the future as a well-capitalized public company.”