Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league has extended its domestic broadcast partnership with CBS Sports for the 2020 season.
CBS Sports will feature 24 games over the 10 event days of the season, with select games on the main CBS network. All CBS games will have encore airings on CBS Sports Network.
Big3 secured a broadcast deal with CBS in 2019 following the end of a two-year contract with Fox Sports.
In January, the Big3 announced a series of major structural changes to its format, led by a rebranding of its 3-on-3 form of basketball as an entirely new sport called Fireball3.
The league’s changes for this year include: lowering the minimum age from 27 to 22; ending the requirement for professional experience, allowing open tryouts to qualify for the Big3 combine; once per half, a team can challenge a foul call resulting in an in-game one-on-one possession with the victor winning the call; a new all-red ball known as a Fireball; and a new festival-like experience at its events.
The aim is maintain the start-up league’s growing relevance in the US sports market, and to distinguish Big3 from traditional 3-on-3 basketball which is coming to the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
This season will begin on June 20, with events every Saturday apart from July 4, leading up to the championship game on August 29.
The league will visit: Memphis (FedExForum), New York (TBA), Washington D.C. (Capital One Arena), Minneapolis (Target Center), Hartford (XL Center), Sacramento (Golden 1 Center), Miami (AmericanAirlines Arena), Chicago (United Center), Portland (Moda Center, playoffs), and Detroit (Little Caesars Arena, championship).
Events include musical and entertainment performances, and Young3 clinics in the community throughout the weekend.
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