Big3, the US professional three-on-three basketball league co-founded by rapper Ice Cube, has announced the return of energy drinks brand Monster Energy as a sponsor for the 2023 season.
Under the deal, Monster will retain naming rights for the Big3 celebrity game on August 25, and its logo will continue to have a major presence during all Big3 games on the court itself and along the stanchion of the basketball hoop.
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Ice Cube said: “The partnership between Big3 and Monster Energy has been nothing short of excellent from the moment we agreed to go into business together.
“Their reputation in the sports and entertainment industry is what appealed to us on how we wanted to grow and market the Big3. We believe as far as we’ve come, there’s still much more potential when it comes to what we can achieve as partners.”
The deal adds to Monster Energy's sports partnerships portfolio, which includes a recently extended and expanded partnership with off-road racing’s Supercross through 2025. It has also signed up to sponsor Powerboat P1, the organizer and promoter of international powerboat racing’s UIM Class 1 World Championship.
Dan McHugh, Monster Energy's chief marketing officer, added: “The Big3 has truly changed the game by televising authentic 3-on-3 basketball with some of the greatest players to ever play the sport.
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By GlobalData“The team at Monster Energy are so excited to unveil our plans for the upcoming 2023 season and can’t wait to elevate the fan experience to new heights never seen before.”
The Big3 2023 season, which began on June 25, is the organization’s sixth since it was launched by Ice Cube and co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz in 2017. It will run for 10 weeks and tour across the US for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, with the league traveling to Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Memphis, Miami, and New York.
For the 2023 postseason, the league playoffs will be held on August 19 in Washington DC's Capital One Arena before the league travels to London, UK, to play the championship and All-Stars match at the O2 Arena on August 26.
It will be the first time that a Big3 game will be held outside of North America.
This season will see widespread international coverage after the league secured several broadcasting partners.
The entire regular campaign and postseason will be aired in the US by national network CBS Sports, which renewed its rights deal last year, while the regional network Mid-Atlantic Sports Network has secured rights to show 52 games.
Big3 has also secured coverage in multiple European markets through a deal struck with combat sport-focused streaming service FITE.
International sports streaming service DAZN held global rights for last year’s season, as did CBS and the Vyre Network streaming platform. Big3 also aired coverage on its YouTube channel.
The league announced it had attracted its biggest audience in three years for last year’s championship game.
The 2022 edition, which was won by the Trilogy outfit on August 21, averaged 681,000 total viewers on CBS, up 32% from last season, and peaked at just over 1 million viewers.
Big3 staged its inaugural All-Star game before the final and averaged 587,000 viewers.
