Gary Vee takes advantage of BIG3 basketball league’s new blockchain-powered team investment program to take the 2019 champion Triplets into a whole new era.
On Friday, the BIG3 basketball league announced that prolific investor and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk — popularly known as Gary Vee — has taken the fullest possible advantage of its new NFT-based investment program. He has agreed to purchase the full allotment of 25 “Fire-Tier” NFT ownership units for Triplets, the team coached by Lisa Leslie and captained by seven-time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson.
Put simply, the purchase of the entire allotment means Vaynerchuk receives ownership-level influence and equity in the 2019 BIG3 champion Triplets, among several other privileges.
“Basketball is one of my favorite sports in the world,” Gary Vee in an official release. “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 [legue co-founder Ice] 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.”
Notably, Vaynerchuk is not the only one to purchase a BIG3 basketball team’s entire NFT ownership allotment so far; NFT community DeGods previously purchased all 25 Fire-Tier editions of the Killer 3’s team.
“We are excited to welcome Gary to the team,” Ice Cube said in a statement. “As a league that organizes around fans rather than cities, we know that his natural expertise in community building is a huge asset – his VeeFriends community is one of the most active in existence right now. This league continues to push the boundaries of what a sports league can be, and in Gary, we’ve found someone who shares the same mindset and sees that vision. He is equally innovative, forward-thinking, and quick to embrace change and we know he will be an ideal partner for the Triplets.”
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In April, the BIG3 announced it would begin using blockchain technology to sell shares in its teams, with investment tiers of $5,000 or $25,000 per unit. Those who decide to invest receive:
- VIP tickets to all games
- A percentage of a future team sale
- First rights to expansion teams
- Access to team practices, parties, coaches, players, and referees
- Monthly participation in calls with Ice Cube, fellow BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz, and league commissioner Clyde Drexler
- Fire-Tier, the highest class of ownership, additionally includes contains intellectual property and licensing rights to team names and logos
At one point in time, BIG3 was looking to partner with the NBA in a fashion similar to the growing cooperation between the NFL and XFL. However, Article III of the NBA’s constitution regarding “conflicts of interest” reads that “no owner shall, directly or indirectly, lend money to or become a surety or guarantor” for anyone else granted membership in the league. All this means is that NBA owners are not allowed to invest in the Big3.
As a result, the BIG3 has turned to a more innovative, blockchain-powered model to attract potential co-owners that may be interested in a whole kind of sports investment. Enter Gary Vee, who now helps to kick-start some exciting synergy between the BIG3 and Web3.
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