Big3 rebrands their game as Fireball3, lowers age to 22 and more
 

https://big3.com/news/the-big3-is-wh...-what-we-play/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWk...ture=emb_title

Lots of cool changes attempted to increase viewership:

Lowering Minimum Age – The BIG3 will lower the minimum age to qualify for athletes from 27 to 22 with younger exceptions in hardship cases.

Bring the Fire – 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.

All Athletes Welcome – The BIG3 will hold open tryouts for athletes to qualify for the BIG3 combine. Professional basketball experience no longer required. The BIG3 wants the best athletes in the world regardless of sporting experience. In the same manner as the NFL takes the best from various sports, this could mean two-sport athletes, overlooked basketball stars, and some athletes choosing FIREBALL3 over other sports (i.e. NFL tight ends).

Festivals Every Saturday – Following the thrill and success of BIG3 Ballout in Dallas last season, the BIG3 will host sports and entertainment festivals in a different city every Saturday during the summer. The BIG3 will present six straight games, musical performances, and host YOUNG3 clinics in the local community the Friday before, as well as other weekend events in the city.

The FIREBALL – The league will use a new all red ball known as a FIREBALL.
The new sport is the result of game innovations, unique rules, and league policies introduced by the BIG3 over its first three seasons, including:

Single Foul Shots – All shooting fouls in the BIG3 result in a single free-throw worth the number of points for the attempted field goal. If a player is fouled on a two-point field goal, he will shoot from the foul line for a chance at two points. In the BIG3, three-point foul shots are taken from the three-point line at the top of the key and four-point foul shots are taken from the center four-point circle.

14-Second Shot Clock – All possessions in the BIG3 have a 14-second shot clock.

4-Point Shot – Players have the option to pull up from three circles 30-feet from the basket for a four-point shot. A shooter needs just one foot touching the circle for the four-point shot to count.

Coach Challenges: BIG3 coaches are given one challenge per game to review clearing, 3 and 4-point shots, out-of-bounds violations, and goaltending violations. If a coach wins the challenge, they get one more challenge to use during the game.

Player Empowerment – BIG3 players are encouraged by management to be themselves and let their personalities shine on the court and on social media. Players serve as team General Managers in charge of drafting, trades, lineups along with coaching staff.

League Mental Health Policy – The BIG3 has a robust policy supporting our players, coaches, and staff in many situations.

CBD – The BIG3 encourages player choice in the use of CBD for recovery.

I love the innovation, this might actually get me to watch more this year.

Re: Big3 rebrands their game as Fireball3, lowers age to 22 and more
 

1 potential downfall I could see is bringing in the young players means probably more unknown players? I mean it's not unreasonable that a borderline NBA player or even a great D1 player that's not good enough for the NBA is better than a washed-up NBA vet, right? But they don't have name power so people aren't going to tune-in to see those guys.

Re: Big3 rebrands their game as Fireball3, lowers age to 22 and more
 

That was my first thought as well. The Big 3 is a niche league and name recognition has played a significant role in that niche, for me anyway. One of the only reasons I've ever watched is to see how grey Cuttino Mobley is now or whether Jermaine O'Neal can still dunk or not. If the league begins to skew anonymous then it feels like it's heading toward less wacky SlamBall territory.

Re: Big3 rebrands their game as Fireball3, lowers age to 22 and more
 

Those young players still have to be drafted and the teams still tend to lean toward the name players. This is primarily to try to remove the stigma that this is just a retirement league.

Re: Big3 rebrands their game as Fireball3, lowers age to 22 and more
 

Hate the name change.

I’ll still continue to call it Big3 though.