01:00:59 · John Coogan, Ice Cube, Luke Igel
[01:00:59] S0: How are you attracting new talent, new athletes? Because I can imagine if, somebody who's in the NBA sees you calling, they're gonna pick up. But, at the same time, they might say, hey. I got a couple more years in me. I'm I'm not ready to move on. What what has it been like building the talent pipeline? [01:01:17] S4: What's been, you know, awesome, we've had some of the greatest players that ever played a game come through our league, you know, for as first round picks, all stars, champions, you know, even hall of famers, you know, when you look at, you know, people like, Allen Iverson playing in the Big3. So, you know, we don't have a problem attracting the talent. The thing is, you know, we wanna offer more. We we we have eight teams. We need to expand that. We need 12 teams. [01:01:49] S3: Mhmm. [01:01:50] S4: We need 16, 20 teams. You know, we always have a pool of players who, you know, wanna play in the big three but can't because it's a numbers game. So this is what, you know, this IPO is gonna allow us to do is expand and to really, you know, grow and have a bigger footprint, which is more attractive to sponsors. Yeah. You know, what's holding us back is we only got 10 games. You know, if we had 20 games or 25 like the NFL, you know, we could really expand, you know, our sponsors, you know, what we can offer to, you know, platform broadcasting, media deals. You know, we just gotta offer more of this good stuff.
01:01:50 · Ice Cube, John Coogan
[01:01:50] S4: We need 16, 20 teams. You know, we always have a pool of players who, you know, wanna play in the big three but can't because it's a numbers game. So this is what, you know, this IPO is gonna allow us to do is expand and to really, you know, grow and have a bigger footprint, which is more attractive to sponsors. Yeah. You know, what's holding us back is we only got 10 games. You know, if we had 20 games or 25 like the NFL, you know, we could really expand, you know, our sponsors, you know, what we can offer to, you know, platform broadcasting, media deals. You know, we just gotta offer more of this good stuff. [01:02:39] S0: Yeah. So, yeah, what else are you using the capital for as you scale the business? Are cities receptive to bringing new teams to town? Is it is it easy to get up and running if you have the if you have the the the capital to go and do a new team in a new city?
01:02:58 · Ice Cube
[01:02:58] S4: Without a doubt, you know, it's pretty turnkey because we owned all the teams Yeah. For so long, even 12, you know. So we were able to make that work and you know, we're able to, you know, get new owners, you know, and and kinda walk em through and and help them get up to speed and then let them take over. Cities have been extremely receptive everywhere we go. They want the big three. You know, we've been to London. We've been to Toronto. You know, we see this as a global league. We want teams in London and Toronto, Mexico City, Puerto Rico. You know, we see this as not just, you know, stuck in The US, but we can expand the league. Yeah. So sky's the limit. You know, we we wanna shore up. We've been a lean and mean league which has been great because we've been cost effective with how we operate but we wanna, you know, hire the best people to help us shore up the foundation of the league and, you know, really work on the growth of the league. You know, we we talking to some smart peep... Talking to some very smart people across the board, and they're just in the wings waiting for the opportunity to help us, you know, kind of exploit and take out the opportunities that's out there. Look, if you look at this, we can own three on three all over the world. Not only it just at the pro level, but the youth level And have the playing three on three all over the world. Big three rules, big three colors, and the public can help us do it. It's amazing opportunity. Yeah.
01:04:43 · Jordi Hays, Ice Cube, John Coogan
[01:04:43] S2: Yeah. How... What... What's the team like today? You're slated for a SPAC. Mhmm. Are you are you excited for the public markets for your first earnings call? [01:04:55] S4: I am. It's really about giving people who love sports and a unique opportunity that don't come around. You know, it's a once in a lifetime thing. You know, if you look at the history of sports, it's been an exclusive club. [01:05:12] S0: Yeah. [01:05:13] S4: You gotta be part of the club to get in. You know, here, you just gotta, you know, wanna be part of the league in a bigger way than just buying merch or watching a game or, you know, you wanna be part of the growth of the league and and participate on the upside when when we do, you know, start rolling downhill. Yeah. If you look around, nobody else is emerging. Nobody else has, you know, nine seasons proven that we have a great fan base and this works. We just gotta add some fuel to the fire. [01:05:49] S0: Building that fan base, how important is it that, players have personal social media presences? We were talking to Eli Manning about the the the intense pressure of young rookies in the NFL to start a podcast or start doing media or be in movies. You've obviously been in entertainment for years. I'm interested in how you're talking to players about grappling those trade offs. Is there is there... Because of the nature of the league, is there more flexibility to go and build your own fan base and then bring them along for the ride? [01:06:23] S4: Without a doubt. You know, when we set to build the Big3 in 2016 [01:06:29] S0: Yeah.
01:06:29 · John Coogan, Ice Cube, Jordi Hays
[01:06:29] S0: Yeah. [01:06:30] S4: We wanted to do things better than the other leagues. Mhmm. You know, the other leagues, they lean into their sports, but, you know, music and culture, you know, kinda is is is kinda like a byproduct. Yeah. But here, it's the perfect intersection. You know, there's sports which we take extremely serious, the game. But we also understand that there's culture, music, and this is an intersection of that. Mhmm. So we wanna do... We wanna have more fun than the other leagues. We want our fans to have more fun. Yeah. With the game. And so we wanna do things a little different. We wanna create more of a festival, more of an interactive experience with the fans and the and the players and the coaches. Yeah. And we wanna do things that, like I said, other leagues are not doing. And, you know, there's nothing stopping us [01:07:31] S0: Yeah. [01:07:31] S4: From doing that. [01:07:32] S0: Last year... [01:07:33] S2: I want you to be really honest with me. So John is six eight, never had a run-in basketball, but I'm wondering if You got a chance? Way that he could walk on, if there's [01:07:44] S0: a way that... Yeah. What does it take to actually... [01:07:45] S2: What does it actually what does it actually take? He's got... [01:07:47] S0: Are there open tryouts? [01:07:48] S2: He's got at least at least, you know, a few thousand people that really wanna see him ball. [01:07:54] S0: For sure. [01:07:55] S2: Cool. Any way he could walk on? Maybe like a celeb shot?
01:07:55 · Jordi Hays, Ice Cube, John Coogan, Jared Allen
[01:07:55] S2: Cool. Any way he could walk on? Maybe like a celeb shot? [01:08:02] S4: Well, you know, we definitely can have him in our celebrity game. Okay. You know, it's... There you go. [01:08:07] S0: You're signing up the marketing. [01:08:09] S2: Might be better to do a podcast or game. [01:08:11] S0: Oh, yeah. Yeah. We can get Rogen and No. Gibernate in [01:08:16] S4: We we have a if you're invited to our combine, you know, I know some people that might can get you in [01:08:22] S0: there. Okay. [01:08:22] S2: I'm not even... Yeah. I'm not really asking for, like, you know, an easy way in. I just want them to have a chance. Okay. [01:08:28] S0: That's I [01:08:29] S2: what it takes to be a... I think [01:08:30] S0: it's not easy. It's not easy. No. [01:08:32] S4: Into the, you know, going through the combine, you know, you got over a 100 [01:08:37] S0: Yeah. [01:08:38] S4: Guys, you know, maybe a 120 guys going for, like, 23 spots. So [01:08:45] S0: And they've and they've mostly played basketball before unlike me? Definitely. [01:08:50] S4: You know what [01:08:50] S1: They played [01:08:51] S0: all over the world. I think I'll be at a disadvantage. [01:08:53] S4: They played all over the world. Yeah. You need to come. Just come. Okay. You know? Kick it with me on the front row. [01:09:00] S0: Yeah. I think I'll be in the stands, actually, now that I think about it. That's probably my The owner. My idea is Yeah. An owner might be more suited for me. [01:09:07] S4: Yes. Yes.