Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league, the three-on-three competition he co-founded with Jeff Kwatinetz in 2017, is set to go public via a SPAC merger in the coming months, valuing the company at around $290 million. The move marks a significant milestone for a startup sports league that has managed to survive where more than 100 rivals have failed, including weathering the disruption caused by COVID-19 and a difficult media landscape. Kwatinetz argues that a public listing will let ordinary fans invest in a sports property, something usually reserved for billionaires, while also deepening fan engagement.

The league, which holds media rights deals with CBS and Fubo, says it currently draws around 600,000 viewers, which Kwatinetz contrasts favourably with the 150,000 to 200,000 viewers he says LIV Golf attracted despite far greater spending. Funds raised from going public are expected to be used to expand BIG3's roster of teams and increase the number of games played, with the aim of boosting its media rights value by growing its programming inventory, an area where it still lags well behind established leagues such as the NHL.