Hoop City 3X3 comes to a close in Edmonton

CTV News

a day ago

Players are seen playing 3X3 basketball at West Edmonton Mall for the Hoop City 3X3 Festival on Aug. 3, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Connor Hogg)
As the Hoop City 3X3 Festival comes to a close Sunday, one coach says hosting the game in Edmonton is helping put the game on the map for the rest of the province and the country.
Three-on-three basketball, better known as 3X3, is a fast-paced game running 10 minutes with a 12-second shot clock.
The event makes the fifth time Edmonton has hosted the festival with the 2025 3X3 World Tour and Women's Series which featured 200 of the top 3X3 basketball athletes and the top 12 men's and women's teams in the world.
'It's been a great part of what people can expect in Edmonton over the course of the summer,' said Mongolian 3X3 head coach Steven Sir. 'This is the only world tour and women's series stop in all of Canada, in all of North America.
Sir said one of the top 3X3 teams in the world is from Canada, with three of the four players that won Saturday based in Alberta.
'It really continues to promote that this is a sport that's really growing at a rapid pace in a big way around the world and that we have a strong presence here in Edmonton,' Sir told CTV News Edmonton.
The games were hosted at West Edmonton Mall's Ice Palace starting on Thursday and wrapped up Sunday.
More than 8,000 people were expected to attend the competition. The Alberta government estimated a $4.3-million boost to Edmonton's visitor economy as a result of the competition, as well as a global viewership of up to 500,000.
Sir said the sport gets better and better every year.
'I think people can see there's quality players from every area of the world, and there's a different style of play from a lot of areas of the world.'
'I hope everybody had a great time and really enjoyed this,' said Sir. 'There's a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and it's really just a testament to the effort and energy put in towards promoting this sport.'
Results of the competition can be viewed here.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg and Craig Ellingson