From a shared passion to a stronger partnership

During Sneakerness Amsterdam 2026, on 26 and 27 September at the Kromhouthal, the collaboration took another step forward. We were present in several ways at the lifestyle event. We organised basketball activities outside the venue and gave away prizes. We also shared information about the 3X3 Leader Course and had our own 3X3 Unites merchandise stand.

“Sneakerness Amsterdam 2026 was a great opportunity to show who we are and what we do”, says Raul Villavicencio on behalf of 3X3 Unites. “You could see that sneaker culture and basketball culture have a lot in common. Sneakers, for example, are woven into basketball culture and are an important part of what goes on in our community.”

The fact that Sneakerness Amsterdam and 3X3 Unites are a good fit was already clear during the 3X3 Festival in June. At our own festival, where top-level sport, art, culture, music, fashion and community came together, Sneakerness Amsterdam had its own area, where visitors to our festival could enjoy a “mini Sneakerness experience”.

It was a great success. “It is a lot of fun, and we see a great deal of overlap between the target audience that loves basketball and the target audience that loves sneakers”, said Matthijs van der Meulen, Co-CEO of Sneakerness Amsterdam, at the 3X3 Festival. “We already knew that, but here we are getting confirmation. There is a lot of potential in the partnership with 3X3 Unites.”

At the end of September, the roles were reversed, and we became part of the Sneakerness Amsterdam event. Alongside all the sneaker and fashion stands, we added something completely different to the event with a few basketball activities. Outside the venue, for example, there was a small basketball hoop where visitors were allowed three attempts to score.

“If they managed to score at least once out of those three attempts, they were allowed to spin the wheel”, says 3X3 Leader Sara Nessim, who ran the activity together with Mariam Harsal. “The atmosphere was great. People enjoyed taking part and wanted to know more about what 3X3 Unites actually does. Of course, we told them all about it, from the 3X3 Leader Course to the World Tour. From the streets to the top.”

We also had our own merchandise stand inside. “It is good for 3X3 Unites to be present at events like these as well”, says Lakiesha Maanster, who worked at the merchandise stand. “This allows us to broaden our target audience. The merchandise stand was useful and valuable because it gave us the opportunity to see which merchandise is popular with this audience.”