Ice Dice Crushes Sports activities: BIG3 Basketball Turns into First Publicly Traded Sports activities League With $290M Valuation
Ice Dice’s BIG3 basketball league goes public, changing into the primary skilled sports activities league to commerce on Wall Road.
Ice Dice is about to make historical past by taking his revolutionary 3-on-3 basketball league to Wall Road, and it’s the second BIG3 has been constructing towards since day one.
The league simply introduced a definitive settlement with Graf World Corp, a publicly traded particular goal acquisition firm, to merge and turn out to be the primary publicly traded skilled sports activities league in america.
When the deal closes within the fourth quarter of 2026, the mixed firm will commerce below the ticker image “TONT” (3-on-3) on the New York Inventory Trade, NYSE American, or Nasdaq, with BIG3 valued at $290 million on a pre-money foundation.
“Going public is our subsequent step. This lifts us to an even bigger stage, accelerates our worldwide potential and offers our followers a method to develop with us, assist us and take part in our success,” Ice Dice stated.
This isn’t only a enterprise transfer. It’s validation. For years, Ice Dice and co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz fought by means of authorized battles, allegations of a hostile office, and investor disputes to maintain BIG3 alive and thriving.
When the Champions Basketball League filed a $250 million lawsuit in opposition to BIG3 in 2017, claiming the league had defrauded them, Ice Dice’s group didn’t again down.
BIG3 received a $21 million defamation judgment in opposition to the Champions League and its proprietor Carl George, proving that the league’s fast progress and success have been professional, not stolen.
They’ve weathered every part from Qatari investor disputes to contract battles with main regulation corporations, and every time they got here out stronger.
Now the numbers communicate for themselves. Final season, BIG3 averaged greater than 550,000 viewers on CBS and generated over a billion social media impressions.
The league operates eight city-based groups throughout Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and the DMV, with legendary coaches like Dr. J, Nancy Lieberman, and Gary Payton main squads that includes former NBA stars Michael Beasley, Corey Brewer, Dwight Howard, and Joe Johnson.
Season 9 suggestions off June 20 on the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with the championship sport scheduled for August 22 in Charlotte.
The league’s already received worldwide attain too, with video games streaming on Migu in China and TV Globo in Brazil.
