Bloomberg Television · Oct 30, 2026 · recorded Oct 29, 2026 · 11 min
With Ice Cube, Founder and CEO of Big3
Photo via big3.com
Big3, the three-on-three basketball league, is going into its 10th season with a SPAC merger expected to close around the end of this year or early next. Ice Cube, founder and CEO of Big3, told Romaine Bostick on Bloomberg Television's The Close that the league has run on very little capital and that fresh money is what lets it grow.
Big3 built its audience without much outside money. Ice Cube said the league has been "cash constrained" and run in a "barebones" way, and that the capital from the deal is what it has been missing.
"We're going into our 10th year. We're proven. We're here to stay. You look around, nobody else is coming." — Ice Cube
Ice Cube has run Big3 since its 2017 start and has watched rival three-on-three leagues come and go in that time. He now wants a bigger media deal, a global tournament and a public listing that lets ordinary fans buy in.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 6 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
Big3's SPAC deal should close around year-end or early next year, nine years after the league launched
Ice Cube says Big3 is outdrawing MLS and NHL regular-season games
It led the WNBA too, until the WNBA's new cable deal made its numbers "explode"
Cash flow, not demand, is what has held the league back, he says
Big3's one-year CBS contracts were deliberate, to keep it free for a bigger media deal
NBA players, owners and coaches like Big3; the league's "top brass" is the friction
The listing is pitched as a way for everyday fans, not only wealthy investors, to own a piece of a league
1. A SPAC Deal Near Year-End
Romaine Bostick, who anchors The Close on Bloomberg Television, opened on the status of Big3's SPAC merger. He noted that the nine-year-old league draws an audience but still has to show it can become a bigger, "investable" business.
Ice Cube said the deal should close around the end of the year or early next year. In his telling, Big3 has "professionalized" three-on-three basketball, a format loved around the world.
Ice Cube says Big3 is already the top three-on-three league and is ready to scale
"We're in a great position to scale this... where we are already recognized as the premier three on three... pro league in the world." — Ice Cube
A SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, is a listed shell that merges with a private business to take it public. For Big3, the merger is both the listing and the source of the capital the league says it has lacked.
