These BIG3 NFTs might become one of this year’s most entertaining stories. The 3-on-3 basketball league created by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz offers utility beyond belief for its “BIG3 Ownership” NFT collection. The Fire tier NFTs holders will get to effectively affect the game and the league via video calls with the team and coaches. They’ll also get the chance to be Team CEO, which is what Snoop, Gary, and the other projects seem to be looking for.

“A BIG3 NFT holder is effectively a part of the team from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep,” claims the league. These Ethereum-based NFTs come with “ownership-like benefits” in “two-tier options comprising 12,000 editions – 1,000 for each of the league’s twelve teams that include 25 Fire priced at $25,000 each and 975 Gold priced at $5,000 each.” From those 25 Fire ones, a Team CEO is selected. So, each of the prominent buyers got all of the available ones for particular teams.

The BIG3 league’s season five starts on June 18th, and it will receive live coverage on CBS and Paramaunt+. Will the owners and their NFT collections receive some of that coverage? And will they bring their own particular audiences to the BIG3 basketball league?

The BIG3 League Announces Its NFT Series

Recently, “Ice Cube guaranteed on a recent Twitter space that the league will be around for 100 years”. Considering the BIG3 is going into its fifth year, what we have here is a low time preference situation. In the blog post announcing the superpowers that the BIG3 Ownership NFT collection contains, they presented the project comparing Web 2.0 to Web3.

“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.”

The NFT excels in utility, among many other things it guarantees: attendance to parties after gamedays and invites to practices. Reserved owner suites, backstage access area, player and coach meet-and-greets. Plus, a championship game experience and “even a championship ring if your team wins the whole thing.” Plus, because it’s the law for NFT projects, “a dedicated Discord page for BIG3 owners.”

However, the killer app is ownership.

How Do The BIG3 NFTs Guarantee Ownership

The new Team CEO is chosen among the 25 Fire tier NFT holders. Besides that, every one of those 25 will have “a direct and tangible impact on the league” by:

• “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”

• “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”

So yeah, owners will get to speak with Clyde the Glide and Ice Cube. 

ETH price chart on Kraken | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com

The New Owners: Snoop Dogg, Gary Vee, And More

This is where it gets interesting. Since we’re talking about an NFT, members of the community came out in full force to support the idea. And to get into the conversation. So far, the celebrity owners that bought the 25 Fire tier NFTs from their respective teams are:

• Snoop Dogg and co-founder of PayPal Ken Howery got the 25 for team Bivouac.
• Gary Vaynerchuk and his VeeFriends NFT collection got the Triplets, who won the 2019 Championship.
• As referenced in our article about them, NFT community DeGods bought Killer 3.
• Bill Lee from MyDoge wallet brought the Dogecoin community by purchasing the 25 Fire-Tier for Aliens using DOGE. This was “the largest commercial transaction in history for the cryptocurrency.”
• Krause House, a basketball-focused Decentralized Autonomous Organization, got the Ball Hogs.

Relevant Quotes From BIG3’s Site

Speaking on the phenomenon, BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Snoop, Ken, and their communities on board with the BIG3. Having someone with Ken’s knowledge and experience wanting to be a part of our league demonstrates that we are moving in the right direction. Snoop is an undisputed legend who has jumped headfirst into the Web3 space and clearly understands the importance and the value of what we are trying to create. Together, I know they will take Bivouac to new heights and we can’t wait to get started.”

For his part, GaryVee said:

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the pop culture relevance of the BIG3 league. Over the last several months I’ve been able to get closer with Cube and the rest of the team and I’m extremely excited about the impact of the Blockchain on professional sports. All of those ingredients create a scenario where I am excited to join this incredible league.”

And BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz contributed:

 “We are thrilled to partner up with Bill and have the MyDoge and Dogecoin communities be represented by the Aliens. We have made history with this transaction, and we hope it inspires others in the Doge world to support the team whether by purchasing the Gold-Tiers, by attending games, or by tuning in.”

As you can see, everyone is focusing on communities and the merging of the audiences. This is a win-win situation if we ever saw one. There could very well be enough star power in this deal to take both the BIG3 League and the NFT community to new heights.

Featured Image: BIG3 Ownership NFT promotional image from the site | Charts by TradingView