Since December’s announcement that Vice TV would be shifting much of their focus to sports, the channel’s Vice Sports brand has put together an impressive lineup of content. That’s included partnerships with Omaha Productions and The Volume, docuseries on Rick Pitino and John Calipari, the The Grudge series, and live event deals with BYB (now BKB) Bare Knuckle Boxing, Arena Football 1, PDC World Championship Darts and more. And Vice Sports announced another live games deal Tuesday, adding 14 games from the BIG3 three-on-three men’s basketball league founded by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz.
The move here comes shortly before the BIG3’s eighth season begins on June 14, with that season featuring teams representing home markets for the first time in a transition to a fully home-based model. Vice TV will televise a doubleheader live that Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. ET, with that coming following the live CBS broadcast of the season opener.
All in all, Vice TV will carry 14 regular-season BIG3 games on eight dates between the June 14 premiere and the August 9 end of the regular season. Their broadcasts will be produced by CBS Sports (which remains the league’s primary media partner). Here are some quotes on that from a release:
“We are so pleased to welcome VICE Sports to the BIG3 media lineup,” said BIG3 President Jeff Kwatinetz. “We know that our content is completely unique in the summer sports marketplace and are fortunate to have found a partner that shares our values and respects our content strategy. Their young, irreverent, and connected viewership is the perfect audience for us and we look forward to creating a new home for our existing fans while continuing to expand and cultivate new BIG3 fanatics from VICE’s outstanding viewership. We can’t wait to bring our fast, physical, exciting product to VICE TV viewers beginning June 14.”
…“Everyone at VICE TV is beyond excited to add BIG3 basketball to our growing roster of compelling sports content,” said Pete Gaffney, President of VICE TV. “In a short time, we’ve established VICE Sports and transformed VICE TV into a true destination for bold, fearless sports programming, including documentaries, formatted shows, acquired content, and live sports like BIG3, that fans crave. Across all of VICE – TV, Studios, Digital – we’re expanding our sports slate in a big way and building a true multi-platform brand that brings an authentic voice to sports as only VICE can.”
For the BIG3, this adds to the many different platforms they’ve used to reach viewers, including “othercasts” with streamers. And while the league has been through ups and downs, including legal battles and complaints about how they’re covered (they’ve received significantly more high-profile promotional opportunities lately, though), it’s notable to see them not just sticking around eight years in, but continuing to add new media deals.
As for Vice, they are indeed expanding that sports lineup in a major way. Just a few months after that December announcement of their shift to a sports focus, they’ve landed quite the collection of live events, docuseries, various themed specials, and more. As Gaffney told Awful Announcing in March, “If we get great talent, we make great content, we’re able to get that attention in the world of sports, we’re going to get people to check this out, to build out the brand.” And that latest brand-building is as more of a place for live sports with this BIG3 deal.