Entertainer O’Shea Jackson – known to most as Ice Cube – will soon take his Sherman Oaks-based professional three-on-three basketball league Big3 Holdco public in a reverse merger.
The rapper and actor co-founded Big3 with entertainment industry executive Jeff Kwatinetz in 2017, putting former National Basketball Association greats head-to-head with international players.
The league, now in its ninth season, will become the first publicly listed sports league after closing its business combination with the Texas-based special purpose acquisition company Graf Global Corp. The deal values Big3, which will list as Big3 Basketball Holdings, Inc. under the ticker “TONT,” at $290 million.
“Leading a new generation of emerging sports, Big3 connects basketball to culture, fans and our team communities. Going public is our next step,” Jackson said in a statement within the release. “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.”
In a statement to the Business Journal, co-founder Kwatinetz said going public is all about “access.”
“Sports has become one of the hottest asset classes in the world, but unless you’re a billionaire, you can’t participate,” he said. “The public markets let us democratize ownership and build a broader base of longterm believers.”
Breaking the mold
Private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds are aggressively buying stakes in top teams worth an average of $7 billion each today, up 22% from 2024, according to Forbes data. The L.A. Lakers have seen their valuation nearly double over the last five years, from $5.5 billion in 2021 to $10 billion as of the latest estimate.
Despite explosive growth in valuations, major teams and leagues tend to stay in private hands. While going public could offer liquidity and access to capital, tradeoffs include tighter regulations and pressure to deliver on short-term shareholder expectations.
Big3’s push into the public markets is unique but could “deliver uncorrelated returns over time,” said James Graf, chief executive of Graf, in a release. His company had been searching for an acquisition target since it launched on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024.
“(Jackson) 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,” Graf said. “We have high hopes for where they can take Big3 in the future as a well-capitalized public company.”
‘Demand is there’
Having garnered more than 550,000 average viewers on CBS and participation from the likes of former Lakers player and NBA champion Dwight Howard, Big3 sees itself at an inflection point, Kwatinetz said. The eight-team league’s biggest growth opportunities are in media rights, global expansion, and sponsorship and licensing, he said.
“Internationally, basketball is one of the three sports that truly travels globally, and we’re in discussions about creating Big3 Asia. We’ve played in London, Toronto, the Bahamas and the demand is there,” Kwatinetz said. “We believe we can ultimately build toward a global World Cup of 3on3.”
The reverse merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter, requiring at least $50 million in net cash after all investors who want to pull their money out of the SPAC are paid. To ensure higher-than-expected redemptions don’t derail the deal, Big3 has back-up financing plans, Kwatinetz said.
“We’re in active discussions on strategic partnerships and revenuebacked financing tied to our media and international expansion,” he said. “The SPAC is a catalyst, not a lifeline.”
