The Big3, the US professional three-on-three basketball league co-founded by rapper Ice Cube, has launched a new initiative to enable fans and investors to purchase ownership stakes in its teams.
The league will introduce decentralized team ownership through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), providing fans with the chance to own a share in the 12 teams in the Big3.
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Fans will have two ownership options comprised of 1,000 editions per team – 25 ‘Fire’ priced at $25,000 each and 975 ‘Gold’ priced at $5,000 each.
All editions include voting rights towards team actions, gameday experiences and VIP tickets to all games, and limited-edition team, league, and championship merchandise and memorabilia.
Fire editions also include exclusive intellectual property and licensing rights to team names, logos, and merchandise as well as additional gameday activations.
Additional ownership benefits include first rights to expansion teams and a percentage of a future team sale.
Ice Cube said: "This is team ownership in the 21st century. We've created a special bond with our fans since our first game in 2017 and this is the natural next step.
“We want fans to feel even more invested in their favorite squad, more connected to their favorite player, and provide them with the opportunity to grow with us. While other leagues are flirting with fan ownership, none of them have more meat on the bone than Big3 team owners."
Jeff Kwatinetz, Big3 co-founder, added: "When we founded the Big3 five seasons ago, our mission was to build a league that was innovative and created opportunities for players and fans alike that other leagues lack.
"We are thrilled to be lowering the barrier to entry to team ownership so our fans can take their investment to the next level. This is a tremendous step for our league and the sport as a whole."
