Hip-hop mogul Ice Cube says the AFL should consider private ownership of clubs, declaring multi-million dollars of investment and high-profile owners could be on offer.
Cube, in Melbourne on Monday to promote his Big3 basketball tournament with the National Basketball League, said there was a thirst for investing in sports franchises and competitions across the world.
In town: Rapper Ice Cube will bring his Big3 basketball league to Melbourne in November.Credit: Invision
Major US sports are dominated by prominent owners and investors, including Dallas Cowboys boss Jerry Jones, who attracts as many, if not more, headlines than his players in a franchise worth, according to Forbes, more than $15 billion – the most valuable sports franchise in the world.
“He [Jones] is a larger-than-life figure, kind of like what Jerry Buss was with the [Los Angeles] Lakers, and George Steinbrenner [New York Yankees]. Mark Cuban [Dallas Mavericks] to a certain extent. They become just as famous as the players,” Cube told this masthead.
“Brand identity goes through them. The Big3, without a guy like me, would have a harder time to push to get attention, get people’s interest. I think more people are curious about the Big3 because [people ask] … what is Ice Cube doing with basketball, and what is going on here? That helped us get eyeballs.”
Ice Cube’s foray into Australian basketball comes as the NBL prepares to announce on Tuesday it has locked in an NBA club to play pre-season exhibition games in Melbourne in October.
The AFL has not had private owners since the ill-fated experiments with the Brisbane Bears and Sydney Swans that ended in the early ’90s. The AFL also once fielded an offer to launch the Los Angeles Crocodiles.
Most AFL clubs are member-based organisations and the competition is classified as not-for-profit.
There has been an explosion in investment in sports, including in the United Kingdom this year where cricket’s The Hundred has become a hot commodity, prompting renewed debate that Cricket Australia should do the same with Big Bash League franchises. Emerging sports, including Pickleball, have also become popular among investors in the US.
Former Brisbane Bears owner Christopher Skase in the 1980s.Credit: Peter Rae
Cube’s 12-team competition, with NBA great Clyde Drexler as its commissioner, is now in its eighth season. It recently sold four franchises – in Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Detroit – for more than $15 million each, according to Forbes, and has emerged as the world’s premier three-on-three competition.
Should the AFL consider privatisation, Cube, who redefined rap music and has appeared in a host of television shows and films, including the groundbreaking Boyz N the Hood, and directed the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Straight Outta L.A., on his beloved Raiders and their time in Los Angeles, said the value of AFL clubs could follow the expected trajectory of his Big3.
“Reaching the first bar, we sold four teams, and now teams five and six will sell for more money. All boats start to rise. Now, the first teams are worth more money,” said Cube, who played the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Sunday night.
“It’s … a valuation thing. We have seen leagues that are not even profitable scale quickly when it comes to team valuations. We feel like that is going to happen with the Big3.”
Greater Western Sydney Giants chief executive Dave Matthews has previously said private ownership is worth considering. The Giants’ M7 coterie group features about 25 American-based investors who support the club, but officials maintain the investors are only interested in the club claiming a breakthrough premiership, not their own profit.
Cube said he had been unable to lock in a deal with the NBA, so the NBL was the next best fit, with exhibition games to be held in November.
“We felt like if we can’t get the NBA, go to the other most credited league in the world, which is the NBL. We have been talking for a few years, just seeing if it is something that could work, when it could work, how it could work,” Cube said.
“We wanted to bring an exhibition here and show Australian sports fans what the Big3 is all about. The possibilities are endless.”
NBL head of basketball operations Vince Crivelli said the partnership with Big3 was no gimmick.
“This partnership is significant and meaningful. We are both committed to growing our game and providing fans with the highest level of on-court talent, mixed with a unique entertainment package,” Crivelli said.
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