Everything You Need to Know About BIG3 Ownership NFTs Minting May 8th at 6PM EST

Be sure to join the BIG3 Ownership Discord to stay up to date with all BIG3 NFT News

A whitelist will be published on Sunday, May 8th at 6:00 PM EST, and there will be a public minting on Monday, May 9th at 6:00 PM EST.    

In January of 2017, a single Bitcoin was worth $921.35. Today, that same Bitcoin would have a value of around $36,000. Back in 2017, the BIG3 was nothing more than an idea to start a new league from two visionaries in entertainment, Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz. Since 2017, the BIG3 has changed the world’s view on 3v3 basketball. It’s not just televised pickup ball. It’s where the best players from all over the world show their stuff in a competitive, physical, fast-paced environment, and it’s become a new sport: FIREBALL3.

The Blockchain has exploded since its introduction to a skeptical public, and it’s here to stay. The BIG3 has exploded since its introduction to skeptical executives among mainstream leagues, and it’s here to stay – league co-founder Ice Cube guaranteed on a recent Twitter space that the league will be around for 100 years. When you look at things from that perspective, it seems inevitable that the BIG3 and Blockchain technology would link up at some point in the future.

The BIG3 is happy to announce that it will begin its partnership with blockchain technology this season. It will do so in the form of an NFT drop that is unprecedented in the world of sports. All 12 of the BIG3 teams will be selling 1,000 NFTs. The top tier (the “Fire”) tier will cost $25,000, and 25 Fire-tier NFTs per team will be available. The other 975 NFTs available per team will be “Gold” tier NFTs, and they will cost $5,000 each.

Before getting into what the benefits of those NFTs are (and they are significant), let’s take a moment to get into why the BIG3 is doing what no other league has done before. From Day 1, the BIG3 has always been about empowerment. As league Co-Founder Ice Cube said, “We wanted a league that was about the coaches and the players, not the owners and GMs.” The BIG3 is the first league to allow players to pick who they play with, acting as GMs. The BIG3 is the first league that empowered female head coaches in a league where only males play the game. (In fact, teams coached by Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have won two of the league’s first four championships.)

The BIG3 is the first league with a black commissioner and black ownership at this level. The BIG3 has empowered players by allowing CBD use and placing a premium on mental health. In other words, instead of treating its players like commodities meant to provide on-court value equal to the check they receive, the BIG3 is committed to treating its athletes like people. That means providing help to players who may be struggling mentally instead of stigmatizing them, as is so often the case in the other major leagues.

So now the time has come to empower you, the fans. In the other major sports leagues, the relationship between fans and their favorite teams is strictly a transactional one. You can pay money for a cable package that will allow you to watch your team play on TV. You can pay more money for tickets that will allow you to see your favorite team in person. The more money you pay, the closer you’ll get to be to the field, diamond, or court. The more money you pay, the better food you’ll get to eat while you’re at the game. After the game, you go home. If you paid more money to get a better parking spot, you’ll get home faster. Done and done.

Of course, Web 2.0 allows you to stay engaged with your favorite teams between the whistles. You can discuss the team with fellow fans on your favorite forum or subreddit. You can call into your local radio show. You can read a blog, comment on a blog, or even start your own blog. You can follow your favorite players on Twitter or Instagram. All of that is fine, but none of it allows you to make an actual impact on your favorite players, team, or league. Web 2.0 provides engagement. Web 3.0, which the BIG3 is diving into with this NFT drop, takes you past engagement and into an empowering experience.

So what does empowerment and the ownership experience mean with a BIG3 NFT? Well, you will get all the comforts top fans receive. That means:

• Reserved Owner Suites with A-Level Catering
• Reserved VIP Owners Seating Section
• Backstage access area
• Player and coach meet-and-greets
• Attendance to on-site gameday press conference
• Availability to purchase additional quality tickets before general on-sale
• VIP parking and special entrance
• Team CEO/Chairman/President (Fire Tier Owners, as chosen by their peers) get two courtside seats for each event
• Availability to buy additional 5 seats in the first five rows for playoffs and championship team owners
• Championship game experience includes hotel and the winning team also get weekend accommodations and amazing tickets to the All-Star Game, which takes place in the Bahamas this year
• You’ll also receive merchandise, up to and including a championship ring if your team wins the whole thing

All of that is great value for the money. However, those are things that have been done before. The BIG3 is never satisfied by just doing something that’s been done before. As mentioned above, the normal sports fan is always on the outside looking in. More money can get you closer to the wall separating the fans from the decision-makers, but it won’t get you over it. The BIG3 NFT project aims to change that.

A season-ticket holder reaps their benefits from the moment they step in the stadium to the moment they step out of it. A BIG3 NFT holder is effectively a part of the team from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep. BIG3 NFT Holders will receive:

• Attendance to parties after gamedays and associated events with players and league personnel
• Meet-and-Greets with players and coaches
• Pre-draft day party (starting in the 2023 season)
• Events and experiences with the founders and management of the BIG3 to get the inside scoop on how the league is run
• Invites to practices
• Ability to pre-purchase NFTs (whitelisted) for International and Expansion teams
• Exclusive NFTs of players and teams
• Press releases in advance of media servicing
• Sponsor created/provided experiences
• Dedicated Discord page for BIG3 owners that will be updated daily by BIG3 moderators

Naturally, I saved the best for last. Here’s how BIG3 NFT ownership will include a direct and tangible impact on the league and an NFT owner’s favorite team.

• Access to weekly calls with your team to talk strategy leading up to each game
• Weekly video calls with referees to discuss rules and how you think their calls impacted the last game (much more effective way to communicate than yelling from the 22nd row)
• The unique opportunity to connect with commissioner Clyde Drexler as well as league founders Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube three times a year to discuss fundamental strategy, changes, and ideas for the league

The BIG3 NFT Ownership experience will also include have voting rights on the following:

• Season and weekly player and coach awards such as MVP, offensive/defensive awards, best rookie, Too Hard to Guard, et al
• Team CEO/President/VP (chosen from among the “Fire” tier owners.)
• Team colors each week (each team has a minimum of three color sets)
• Player of the game/week
• All-Star participants
• Top 10 plays each week
• Highlights of the week

So there you have it. We at the BIG3 deeply appreciate all you’ve done to support the league since it launched in 2017. We believe we have the best fans in the world, and we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is. We want to give you an opportunity to be more than spectators. As Ice Cube said, we’re not handing out these NFTs to a few folks with bottomless pockets – we’re handing it out to you, the fans who are ready to take on a unique ownership experience.

We want the future of this league to be in the hands of, as BIG3 founder Ice Cube put it, “People and fans who love the game, want to be a part of the team, have a say in what the team does, be able to communicate and grow with the team.”

The Blockchain is here to stay, and it’s growing. The BIG3 is here to stay, and it’s growing. We know our fans are here to stay. If you want to be not just a fan, but somebody who grows with us, we’re excited to provide you with an unprecedented opportunity to do so. If you’re interested, a whitelist will be published on Sunday, May 8th at 6:00 PM EST, and there will be a public minting on Monday, May 9th at 6:00 PM EST.                           

Join the BIG3 Ownership Discord Here